J Rheumatol
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In 2014 the Canadian Rheumatology Association published wait time benchmarks for inflammatory arthritis (IA) and connective tissue disease (CTD) to improve patient outcomes. This study's aim was to determine whether centralized triage and the introduction of quality improvement initiatives would facilitate achievement of wait time benchmarks. ⋯ Centralized triage of rheumatology referrals and quality improvement initiatives are effective in improving wait times for priority patients as determined by paper referral.
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To identify predictors of poor prognosis in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). ⋯ The natural course of SSc-ILD is highly variable. Baseline serum KL-6 is a biomarker potentially useful for predicting FVC decline.
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Widespread pain is no longer required for fibromyalgia (FM) diagnosis according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2010 preliminary diagnostic criteria and its 2011 modification, but its absence may be of concern. We investigated whether the widespread pain definition was satisfactory and the consequences of having a small number of painful regions or of not satisfying the widespread pain criterion. ⋯ In usual clinical and epidemiological studies, the 2011 and 2010 criteria work well, but are not as effective in patients with asymmetrical or regional pain who do not satisfy a widespread pain criterion. A ≥ 4-pain region widespread pain definition will eliminate regional pain false-positives and will identify 98.8% of current 2011 cases. Future revisions of the 2010/2011 criteria should consider incorporating the ≥ 4-region requirement to avoid misclassification.