Triage of Rheumatology Referrals Facilitates Wait Time Benchmarks.

Objective: In 2014 the Canadian Rheumatology Association published wait time benchmarks for inflammatory arthritis (IA) and connective tissue disease (CTD) to improve patient outcomes. This study's aim was to determine whether centralized triage and the introduction of quality improvement initiatives would facilitate achievement of wait time benchmarks.

Methods: Referrals from September to November 2012 were retrospectively triaged by an advanced practice physiotherapist (APP) and compared to referrals triaged by an APP from January to March 2014.

A systematic review of transition readiness and transfer satisfaction measures for adolescents with chronic illness.

Background: The transition from pediatric to adult health care can be challenging for adolescents with chronic illnesses. As a result, many adolescents are unable to transfer to adult health care successfully. Adequate measurement of transition readiness and transfer satisfaction with disease management is necessary in order to determine areas to target for intervention towards improving transfer outcomes.

Non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) improve pain in inflammatory arthritis (IA): a systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials.

Evidence supports early use of non-biologic DMARDs to prevent irreversible damage in inflammatory arthritides, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and possibly ankylosing spondylitis (AS). However, there is a paucity of data exploring their effects on pain as a primary outcome in these conditions. This systematic literature review investigated the effect of non-biologic DMARDs on pain levels in IA and examined whether disease duration impacted efficacy.

Adapting the Iconic Pain Assessment Tool Version 2 (IPAT2) for adults and adolescents with arthritis pain through usability testing and refinement of pain quality icons.

Objectives: To evaluate usability and pain iconography of the Iconic Pain Assessment Tool Version 2 (IPAT2), a self-report instrument that combines word descriptors and representative images (icons) to assess pain quality, intensity, and location, among adults and adolescents with arthritis.

Methods: Adults with inflammatory arthritis and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis partook in a single, semistructured, audio-recorded interview to evaluate: (1) the concreteness (object representativeness) and semantic distance (pain representativeness) of the IPAT2 iconography; (2) participants' current pain; and (3) perceptions and likes/dislikes of the IPAT2. Quantitative data were summarized descriptively and a line-by-line coding analysis identified key concepts from interview transcripts.

Sex differences in pain scores and localization in inflammatory arthritis: a systematic review and metaanalysis.

Objective: To systematically identify and examine reports of sex-stratified pain measurements in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Methods: Data sources included PubMed (1950 to April 2010), Embase (1980 to April 2010), and manual searches of reference lists and conference abstracts. We included cohort studies and randomized trials comparing pain scores, treatment efficacy at reducing pain, or pain localization, between females and males with inflammatory arthritis [rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and reactive arthritis].

A prospective study of mental health care for comorbid depressed mood in older adults with painful osteoarthritis.

Background: Comorbid depression is common among adults with painful osteoarthritis (OA). We evaluated the relationship between depressed mood and receipt of mental health (MH) care services.

Methods: In a cohort with OA, annual interviews assessed comorbidity, arthritis severity, and MH (SF-36 mental health score).

The nerve of osteoarthritis pain.

Objective: Cumulative data suggest that central sensitization may contribute to pain in osteoarthritis (OA) and present with symptoms typically associated with neuropathic pain (NP). We evaluated the responses from focus group participants on the knee OA pain experience for pain descriptions that suggest NP.

Methods: Focus group transcripts were analyzed by 2 independent assessors for unprompted use of pain descriptors that suggested NP.

Topical treatment of Bowen's disease with 5-Fluorouracil.

Background: Bowen's disease is a common skin cancer. There are many different therapeutic approaches to treatment. Topical 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) cream has been used for many years and there are many published papers attesting to its effectiveness.