Publications by authors named "M R Burma"
Purpose: To determine whether cigarette smoking increases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis among postmenopausal women.
Subjects And Methods: We followed a cohort of 31 336 women in Iowa who were aged 55 to 69 years in 1986 and who had no history of rheumatoid arthritis. Through 1997, 158 cases of rheumatoid arthritis were identified and validated based on review of medical records and supplementary information provided by physicians.
Objective: To evaluate whether coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption are risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) onset among older women.
Methods: These factors were evaluated in a prospective cohort study that was initiated in 1986 and that included 31,336 women ages 55-69 years without a history of RA. Risk factor data were self-reported using a mailed questionnaire.
Objective: To determine patients' knowledge of the safe use and toxicity of methotrexate (MTX) and to define educational interventions implemented by a rheumatology nurse that improved patients' understanding of MTX therapy.
Methods: One hundred eighty-three patients from a university-based rheumatology clinic who were taking MTX completed an initial knowledge questionnaire concerning the proper use and possible toxicity of MTX. Following completion, a nurse reviewed the correct answers with each patient and provided written information on MTX.