OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence and pattern of radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) of the hand joints and its association with self reported hand pain and disability. METHODS Baseline data on a population based study (age >/=55 years) were used (n = 3906). Hand ROA was defined as the presence of Kellgren-Lawrence grade >/=2 radiological changes in two of three groups of hand joints in e...

OBJECTIVE To assess work ability and work satisfaction in Saudi Arabian patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to compare work ability outcomes and work satisfaction levels between housewives and paid workers both suffering from RA. METHODS This is a cross sectional study on 120 patients with RA conducted at 3 hospitals between September 2011 and May 2012. The Quantity-Quality Method (Q-...

Enabling student nurses to learn and develop evidence-based clinical skills is the cornerstone of nursing education programmes. This article describes the implementation of a peer assessment scheme for clinical skills within a skills laboratory in a university school of nursing, and the link between peer assessment and clinical skills development. This was a qualitative evaluative study that us...

BACKGROUND This study compares registry and non-registry approaches to linking 2006 Census of Population data for Manitoba and Ontario to hospital data from the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD). DATA AND METHODS Using a probabilistic linkage, the registry approach linked the census data to provincial health insurance registries, followed by a deterministic linkage to the DAD based on health ...

INTRODUCTION Post-partum depression (PPD) is the most prevalent mental problem associated with childbirth. The purpose of the present study was to determine the incidence of early PPD and possible relevant risk factors among women attending primary health centers in Mazandaran province, Iran for the first time. MATERIAL AND METHODS A longitudinal cohort study was conducted among 2279 eligible...

©2015 Turkish League Against Rheumatism. All rights reserved. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the relationship between the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) and types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), the disease activity, laboratory findings, and treatments of patients with JIA. Patients and methods: Eighty-two children with JIA (37 males, 45 females; mean age 1...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between pre-symptom onset live births and functional outcome in women with inflammatory polyarthritis (IP). METHODS 1872 women with no subsequent pregnancies were registered with the Norfolk Arthritis Register between 1990 and 2004 and followed-up for a median of 5 years. Functional disability over time was assessed by Health Assessment Questionnaire ...

INTRODUCTION We conducted an external validation study to examine the correlation of a previously published claims-based index for rheumatoid arthritis severity (CIRAS) with disease activity score in 28 joints calculated by using C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) and the multi-dimensional health assessment questionnaire (MD-HAQ) physical function score. METHODS Patients enrolled in the Brigham a...

OBJECTIVES To compare the validity, responsiveness to change, and user friendliness of four self completed, shoulder-specific questionnaires in primary care. METHODS A cross sectional assessment of validity and a longitudinal assessment of responsiveness to change of four shoulder questionnaires was carried out: the Dutch Shoulder Disability Questionnaire (SDQ-NL); the United Kingdom Shoulder...

OBJECTIVES To assess the usefulness of hand function measurements in a study of treatment effects of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers and to define the relationship between different hand function tests and also relate hand function to general disability and disease activity. METHODS The study group consisted of 49 patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were followed for...