J Rheumatol
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Open label study to assess infliximab safety and timing of onset of clinical benefit among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
To assess the timing of onset of clinical benefit following the initial infusion of infliximab and to obtain additional safety experience of infliximab when given in an office setting to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition, the safety of reducing the infusion time from 2 hours to 1 hour was evaluated. ⋯ Infliximab administered to patients with RA in an outpatient setting resulted in significant clinical improvement within 48 h that was sustained with additional infusions. Approximately 10% of patients experienced an infusion reaction, highlighting the need for direct supervision over patient treatment. Patients who tolerated infliximab infusions given over 2 h also tolerated a 1 h infusion.
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Comparative Study
Teaching clinical skills in musculoskeletal medicine: the use of structured clinical instruction modules.
To assess student evaluation, satisfaction, and examination outcomes for a new method of teaching musculoskeletal (MSK) medicine clinical skills, structured clinical instruction modules (SCIM), and to compare with the outcomes of a traditional method of teaching clinical skills (small group bedside tutorials). ⋯ The SCIM is an effective method of teaching clinical skills in MSK medicine, comparable with patient partners and traditional registrar based bedside teaching methods, but it is less resource intensive.
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To describe the change of pain reports over time in 3 cohorts derived from the general population: (1) no chronic pain (NCP; n = 1156); (2) chronic regional pain (CRP; n = 502); and (3) chronic widespread pain (CWP; n = 242). To identify risk factors that predict the development or persistence of chronic widespread pain. ⋯ Although the overall prevalence of CWP was stable over a 3-year period there was a considerable variation on an individual basis. This variability in expressing CWP was moderately predicted by a combination of risk factors, the most important being the number of painful regions at baseline. Future research will need to show how useful the identified factors are in clinical practice and whether intervention aimed at changing these factors will improve pain outcome.