Publications by authors named "Janet E Dinnella"
Objective: To explore gout self-management and associated challenges and solutions in African Americans.
Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with 35 African American veterans with gout, who received health care at Birmingham or Philadelphia Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, had filled urate-lowering therapy (ULT; most commonly allopurinol) for at least 6 months, and had a ULT medication possession ratio ≥80%. The interview protocol was constructed to explore key concepts related to gout self-management, including initial diagnosis of gout, beginning medical care for gout, the course of the gout, ULT medication adherence, dietary strategies, comorbidity and side effects, and social support.
Objective: Diagnostic codes based on medical records or claims data have been used to identify patient populations with gout for important epidemiologic and clinical studies. We evaluated whether we can document the accuracy of such diagnoses by review of medical records and then on direct interviews with a subset of patients.
Methods: Electronic medical records of 289 patients with 2 visits with ICD-9 codes for gout were extensively reviewed to search for documentation of features that would classify patients as having gout by 3 sets of proposed criteria, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), New York, or Rome criteria.
Background: Several classification or diagnostic criteria sets for gout have been proposed but none validated.
Objective: This small pilot study considered urate crystal identification as the gold standard for diagnosis and compared the clinical aspects of 3 proposed criteria sets with that standard.
Methods: Eighty-two subjects who had synovial fluid analyses in a VA medical center were studied.