INTRODUCTION Patient-reported physical function is an established outcome domain in clinical studies in rheumatology. To overcome the limitations of the current generation of questionnaires, the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) project in the USA has developed calibrated item banks for measuring several domains of health status in people with a wide range of ch...

OBJECTIVE To contribute to the development of measures that increase physical activity (PA) levels in workers with and without chronic diseases, insight into workers' PA level is needed. Therefore, this study examined the association between the number of chronic diseases and PA in a Dutch working population. METHODS Data of 131,032 workers from the Dutch Public Health Monitor 2012 were used ...

At this moment, in many European countries the analogue PMR (Private Mobile Radio) communications structure is being replaced by a new digital system based on the TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio) standard. This new standard provides higher quality, more flexibility and improved security of communications. An interesting aspect of TETRA is that it provides data communications facilities. This m...

Background: most studies of older populations in developed countries show a decrease in the prevalence of disabilities, and an increase in chronic diseases over the past decades. Data in the Netherlands, however, mostly show an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases and mixed results with regard to the prevalence of disability. This study aims at comparing changes in the prevalence, as ...

Many cities in the Global South are structurally different from Northern, particularly American, on which much of urban sociology’s conceptual apparatus has been based. Thus, depicting them terms a standard vocabulary risks imposing an inappropriate way seeing. We need that is able to accommodate their experience. This special issue contributes work building vocabulary. select five keywords soc...

OBJECTIVE To present an overview of the prevalence of multimorbidity and comorbidity of chronic diseases in the Dutch population. DESIGN Data analysis. METHODS Data from the Netherlands Information Network of General Practice (LINH), a large representative network of general practices over a period of 7 years (2002-2008) were analysed. Multimorbidity was defined as a patient having been dia...

Hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis - Dutch type is an autosomal dominant hereditary disease caused by a point mutation in the amyloid precursor protein gene on chromosome 21. The mutation causes an amino acid substitution at codon 693 (E22Q), the 'Dutch mutation'. Amyloid β, the product after cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein, is secreted into the extracellular space. The D...

Human NKG2A, NKG2C and NKG2E genes are located on 12p13 in the NK gene complex. We recently identified deletion of NKG2C in a Japanese population. This study was performed to identify the breakpoint, and to examine the association of NKG2C deletion with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. The location of the breakpoint was determined to be 1.5-1.8 kb telomer...

BACKGROUND Rheumatic diseases are a major cause of permanent work disability. In the process of occupational rehabilitation several health professionals may have a role. OBJECTIVE To assess the quality and quantity of communication and cooperation between Dutch rheumatologists and occupational physicians. METHODS A postal survey among 187 Dutch rheumatologists. RESULTS 153/187 rheumatolog...