Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialCase management of arthritis patients in primary care: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.
To assess whether providing information on arthritis self-management through general practitioners (GPs) increases the quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis and whether additional case management provided by practice nurses shows better results. ⋯ Improving the quality of life in patients with arthritis using arthritis self-management seems challenging. Simply providing this information through GPs is not sufficient but combining it with case management seems to be a promising approach.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2007
Clinical TrialOsteoporosis disease management for fragility fracture patients: new understandings based on three years' experience with an osteoporosis care service.
To review the 3-year performance of an established osteoporosis care service and consider further improvements in an effort to reduce fragility fractures. ⋯ An osteoporosis care service has coordinated care for every willing and able fragility fracture patient with positive outcomes. In addition, the results suggest a high priority for earlier proactive diagnosis and intervention of the at-risk population if fractures are to be reduced.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2007
Health-related quality of life in women with symptomatic hand osteoarthritis: a comparison with rheumatoid arthritis patients, healthy controls, and normative data.
Data on the burden of disease and impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in hand osteoarthritis (OA) are limited. The goal of this study was to compare HRQOL in patients with hand OA with HRQOL in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), healthy controls, and normative data from the general population. ⋯ This study illustrates that patients with hand OA experience a broad impact on HRQOL compared with healthy controls. Fatigue and physical function are worse in RA than hand OA.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2007
Delay in consultation with specialists for persons with suspected new-onset rheumatoid arthritis: a population-based study.
Care in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is optimized by involvement of rheumatologists. We wished to determine whether patients suspected of having new-onset RA in Québec consulted with a rheumatologist, to document any delay in these consultations, and to determine factors associated with prompt consultation. ⋯ Our data suggest that the vast majority of patients suspected of having new-onset RA do not receive rheumatology care. Further action should focus on this issue so that outcomes in RA may be optimized.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Dec 2007
Prevalence of and annual ambulatory health care visits for pediatric arthritis and other rheumatologic conditions in the United States in 2001-2004.
To estimate the prevalence of and the annual number of ambulatory health care visits for pediatric arthritis and other rheumatologic conditions. ⋯ Pediatric arthritis estimates have varied widely because it is an umbrella term for which there are many definitions and because it is a relatively uncommon condition from a population surveillance perspective. Our estimates suggest that arthritis-related health care visits impose a substantial burden on the pediatric health care system. One advantage of this surveillance paradigm is that it has established a starting point for tracking the national prevalence of arthritis and rheumatologic conditions in children on an ongoing basis using existing infrastructure rather than expensive new surveys. This surveillance system will help us monitor and predict the health care needs of patients with these conditions.