OBJECTIVE To determine the factors associated with gait parameters in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS The gait analysis was performed in a large cohort of RA patients, and three basic gait parameters (step length, cadence and gait speed) were calculated. Clinical and laboratory data were also collected. Factors associated with gait parameters were analyzed using multiv...

To assess the problem of night pain and the use of hypnotic drugs in patients with rheumatic diseases 165 consecutive patients (mean age 58.5 years) were assessed and questioned about night pain and the use of drugs including night sedation. Most of the patients (106 (64%)) were women. A total of 32 (19%) patients were receiving night sedation for a mean duration of 43.9 months. Fourteen patien...

BACKGROUND Oral contraceptives (OC) and pregnancy are known to have an influence on the risk of onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Pregnancy itself has beneficial effects on the activity of the disease, with relapses post partum. It is not known, however, whether OC and pregnancies influence the ultimate outcome of RA. OBJECTIVES To explore whether OC use and pregnancies influence the 12 yea...

background: various decisions have been made on technology application at all levels of the health system in different countries around the world. health technology assessment is considered as one of the best scientific tools at the service of policy- makers. this study attempts to investigate the current challenges of iran’s health technology assessment and provide appropriate strategies to es...

OBJECTIVE To explore the relationship between functional status and different domains of postural control, and to make recommendations about the use of postural control tests in clinical practice among women with rheumatoid arthritis. SUBJECTS A total of 91 women with rheumatoid arthritis and 110 controls. The patients were grouped according to the total score of the Health Assessment Questio...

AIM This study was undertaken to investigate paediatric clinicians' views on and use of quality of life (QoL) assessment in clinical practice. METHODS A survey was conducted among members of the Dutch Paediatric Association via e-mail. RESULTS Over half of the 303 respondents (57%) believed that it was possible to use QoL questionnaires in clinical practice. The majority indicated that asse...

The measurement of physical activity, especially walking activity, is important for many outcome studies. In many investigations, the Physical Activity scale of the short-form-36 (SF-36) health assessment questionnaire is used in lieu of an actual physical measurement of walking. This study determined the relationship between the SF-36 questionnaire and the Step Activity Monitor (SAM), a real-w...

OBJECTIVES To estimate annual direct costs of early RA by resource component in an inception cohort, with reference to four distinct treatment strategies: no disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), synthetic DMARDs only, biologic DMARDs in the first year ('first-year biologic', FYB), and biologic DMARDs from the second year after inclusion ('later-year biologic', LYB); to determine pred...

OBJECTIVE To examine associations between disability and socioeconomic status (SES) in persons with hip radiographic OA (rOA) or symptomatic OA (sxOA) in the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project. METHODS Cross-sectional analyses were conducted on individuals with hip rOA (708) or sxOA (251). rOA was defined as Kellgren-Lawrence ≥ 2. Educational attainment (<12 years or ≥12 years) and occupa...

Objectives A comparative analysis of opinions on diet and nutrition of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA), and quality of life limited to physical abilities in both study groups. Material and methods In the period from August to December 2012 an anonymous questionnaire survey was carried out among the patients of the Institute of Rheumatology. The respon...