The effect of social network intervention for women with rheumatoid arthritis.

A partially-controlled intervention study was performed. Female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were allocated to three groups: the network intervention group (n = 104), the attention control group (n = 85), and the no-treatment control group (n = 75). The network intervention consisted of an assessment session and a network meeting.

The impact of disability and disease duration on social support of women with rheumatoid arthritis.

The objective was to investigate the impact of physical disability and disease duration on the amount of social support received by female patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Two hundred sixty-four patients were assessed in a cross-sectional study. Disease duration had a negative relationship to daily emotional support; the length of disease duration was related to less emotional support.

Helicobacter pylori--a trigger of reactive arthritis?

Four cases of reactive arthritis (ReA) related to Helicobacter pylori (HP) are presented. These were identified by IgG, IgM and IgA ELISA tests performed on sera obtained from a 2-year prospective study on 186 patients with a clinical picture suggesting ReA as a possible diagnosis. If anti-HP IgM and IgA or IgG were positive, the case was considered related to HP.

Social network size of female patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to healthy controls.

Unlabelled: To estimate how rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the disease duration, and level of physical disability, influence the total size of patients' social network and the size of different subsets. Two hundred sixty four female patients (mean age 57 yrs) with RA of more than 6 yrs duration (mean 20 yrs) were compared to 61 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and residential area. Network size was measured by Social Network Delineation Questionnaire (SNDQ), physical disability by Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ).

Recent onset arthritis in the elderly: a 5 year longitudinal observational study.

Objective: To study the spectrum of diagnoses, course, and outcome of recent onset arthritis after the age of 60, presenting as rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-like disease.

Methods: A 5 year longitudinal observational study enrolled 92 consecutive patients (median age 73 yrs, 54/38 women/men, median duration of arthritis 12 weeks at inclusion).

Results: Forty-eight percent were classified as having RA according to the 1987 American Rheumatism Association criteria, 52% as non-RA (41.