J Rheumatol
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To compare reactions to cold pressor pain and pain coping strategies of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), healthy children, and their parents. ⋯ The results indicate that JIA patients may differ from healthy children with regard to their responses to experimental pain as well as to their use of pain coping strategies. Pain coping strategies of JIA patients were associated with pain coping strategies of their parents, and use of pain coping strategies was associated with both experimental and clinical pain experience.
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Headaches--especially of migrainous type--have been considered part of the disease spectrum of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We wished to characterize prevalence and types of headaches in SLE and find out if headache is associated with disease, personality traits, or other psychological factors. ⋯ Thirty-eight SLE patients (66%) were headache sufferers; of these, 22 patients (38%) had migraine and 21 (36%) had tension-type headache. Headaches were not associated with disease activity or any other disease associated variable, including tests for antiphospholipid antibodies. Migraine was associated only with a tendency to social isolation and anxiety, while tension-type headache was associated with psychological distress, such as anxiety, somatic complaints, reduced energy, mental tension, social discomfort and withdrawal, and depressive mood according to the BDI. CONCLUSION; Migraine and tension-type headaches occur frequently in patients with SLE. Migraine shows the same clinical presentation as in a non-SLE population, and may not be part of a neuropsychiatric disease spectrum. This also applies to tension-type headache, which in contrast to migraine shows some associations with emotional and personality traits, and could represent components of a chronic pain syndrome.
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To assess the prevalence of fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic widespread pain (CWP) in a population based cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). ⋯ The prevalences of FM and CWP in patients with IBD were similar to those of the general population. There were no differences in prevalence of FM and CWP between UC and CD. Chronic idiopathic inflammation of the intestine does not appear to predispose to chronic widespread pain.
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To investigate the effect of in vivo treatment with methotrexate (MTX) on the regulation of ex vivo interleukin 10 (IL-10) production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ Enhanced ex vivo LPS induced IL-10 production by PBMC of patients with RA is associated with a favorable therapeutic response to MTX treatment, whereas reduced production coincides more closely with disease deterioration or insufficient response. This may reflect both disease outcome upon treatment and/or the mode of the antiinflammatory action of MTX in RA. Because the LPS--but not the PHA--induced ex vivo IL-10 production by PBMC was stimulated by MTX in vivo, monocytes seem to be the prominent target cells for this drug mediated antiinflammatory cytokine regulation.
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A proposed standard "core set" of outcome measures for low back pain includes 5 domains: back-specific function, generic health status, pain, work disability, and patient satisfaction. This paper focuses on the 2 recommended back-specific measures of function: the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). We specifically address their ability to measure change. ⋯ The responsiveness of the RDQ found in the literature ranges from 2 to 8 points on its 0 to 24 scale depending on what change is being measured. As a rough guide, Roland recommends that a change in 2-3 points on the RDQ should be considered the minimum clinically important change. Choosing any value larger than 5 in designing a clinical trial would risk underpowering the trial, since fewer patients are needed if a trial is designed on the basis of a large change score.