CHRONIC MULTIMORBIDITY OF LOW BACK PAIN OR OTHER CHRONIC BACK DISORDERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA.

The aim was to assess the prevalence of chronic multimorbidity in patients with chronic low back pain or other chronic back disorders (BD). We analyzed data from the population-based cross-sectional European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) performed in the Republic of Croatia 2014-2015 by the Croatian Institute of Public Health. Outcome was the point-prevalence of chronic multimorbidity defined as having ≥2 chronic illnesses out of 14 contained in the EHIS questionnaire, after adjustment for ten sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle confounders.

QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS - A PRELIMINARY STUDY.

The most severe effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are loss of physical function and chronic pain, which may have a major impact on different areas of the person's existence. The aim of this study was to get an insight into the quality of life (QOL) in subjects with RA in connection with pain perception and functional ability. The following instruments were used: the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain).

[Therapeutic exercise for patients with chronic low-back pain].

Low Back Pain (LBP) is a major medical and socio-economical problem in the industrialized countries. Exercise therapy is the keystone of conservative treatment for chronic low back pain (CLBP). Numerous randomized trials and clinical practice guidelines have supported that exercise diminishes disability and pain severity while improving fitness and occupational status in patients with CLBP, as well as decrease its recurrence rate.

Complementary and alternative treatment of musculoskeletal pain.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is high and increasing worldwide. Patients usually use CAM in addition to conventional medicine, mainly to treat pain. In a large number of cases, people use CAM for chronic musculoskeletal pain as in osteoarthritis, back pain, neck pain, or fibromyalgia.

[Obesity: risk factor and predictor of osteoarthritis].

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common articular disease of the developed world and a leading cause of chronic disability, mostly as a consequence of the knee OA and/or hip OA. In spite of misrecognition of the exact cause, a number of studies have shown that obesity represents one of the most important risk factors and it is also a predictor for progression of OA, especially of a knee joint and less of the hip joint. Relationship between body mass index (BMI) and OA of the knee is mainly linear, and duration of increasedjoint loading or gaining weight is also significant.