Pain thresholds in rheumatoid arthritis: the effect of tender point counts and disease duration.

Objective: We evaluated the influence of demographic and clinical factors on pain thresholds in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study (105 patients with RA) assessed pain thresholds using an algometer. Regression analysis examined the influence of demographic and clinical assessments.

Perceived barriers to integrated care in rheumatoid arthritis: views of recipients and providers of care in an inner-city setting.

Background: A number of recent reports published in the UK have put the quality of care of adults with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) centre stage. These documents set high standards for health care professionals and commissioning bodies that need to be implemented into routine clinical practice. We therefore have obtained the views of recipients and providers of care in inner city settings as to what they perceive are the barriers to providing integrated care.

Fibromyalgic rheumatoid arthritis and disease assessment.

Objective: We evaluated fibromyalgic RA to determine its clinical impact, identification using core clinical assessments and influence identifying active disease using disease activity scores (DAS-28).

Methods: We examined the impact and identification using core clinical assessments (tender minus swollen joint counts) of fibromyalgic RA (> or =11 tender points) in initial (105 patients) and replicate (100 patients) cohorts. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves optimized the cut-off points using tender minus swollen joint counts; their validity was confirmed in a routine practice cohort (321 patients).

Inhibiting costimulatory activation of T cells : a viable treatment option for rheumatoid arthritis?

There is now good evidence that T cells play a central role in the inflammatory pathway that leads to the persistent synovitis that causes joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). T cells require two signals to become activated. The second step in the activation of T cells involves costimulatory pathways, the best described pathway being the binding of CD28 on T cells to CD80/86 on antigen-presenting cells.