Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2001
Features of somatization predict the onset of chronic widespread pain: results of a large population-based study.
Chronic widespread pain, the clinical hallmark of the fibromyalgia syndrome, is associated with other physical and psychological symptoms both in patients studied in a clinical setting and in those identified in the community. The present study was undertaken to examine the hypothesis that psychological and physical indicators of the process of somatization predict the development of new chronic widespread pain. ⋯ Subjects who are free of chronic widespread pain are at increased future risk of its development if they display other aspects of the process of somatization. Data from this population-based prospective study lend powerful support to the hypothesis that chronic widespread pain can be one manifestation of the somatization of distress.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2001
An English and Spanish quality of life measure for rheumatoid arthritis.
To develop a rheumatoid arthritis-specific health-related quality of life instrument, translate the English instrument into Spanish, and test the scaling assumptions, reliability, validity, and feasibility of both the English and Spanish versions. ⋯ The QOL-RA Scale, in both English and Spanish versions, appears to meet the assumptions of a summated rating scale and the criteria of relevance, reliability, validity, feasibility, and adaptability to several languages.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Apr 2001
Implication of cartilage intermediate layer protein in cartilage destruction in subsets of patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
To investigate whether cartilage intermediate layer protein (CILP), a protein recently cloned from human articular cartilage, is recognized as an autoantigen in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and whether the immune response against CILP is involved in disease pathogenesis. ⋯ The immune response to CILP may play a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory joint destruction. Our results support the role of an immune-mediated process in the joint destruction present in chronic arthropathies such as OA and RA. The results suggest that suppression of immune responses to various components of the cartilage, such as CILP, might be therapeutically beneficial in these chronic arthropathies.
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To examine the prevalence of widespread musculoskeletal pain (WSP) symptoms in 11-year-old Finnish twins and to determine the relative role of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of WSP. ⋯ Genetic factors seem to play at most a minor role in WSP in 11-year-old twins, and environmental factors shared by family members account for a substantial proportion of the variability in WSP.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Feb 2001
Involvement and satisfaction: a Norwegian study of health care among 1,024 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 1,509 patients with chronic noninflammatory musculoskeletal pain.
To investigate involvement in and satisfaction with health care among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and persons with chronic noninflammatory musculoskeletal pain, to identify target areas for improvement. ⋯ High education level and health service provided by rheumatologists were consistently associated with a high level of involvement. Good mental health and high involvement were associated with satisfaction with the care received. Efforts to achieve a higher level of patient involvement should especially be directed toward patients with low education, emotional distress, and a chronic physical disorder.