Oral health and rheumatoid arthritis: a case control study.

Objectives: Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are repeatedly affected by oral diseases or problems, including dental caries and periodontal diseases (PDs). Periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis are chronic inflammatory destructive diseases that share many similarities. The objective of this study was to assess oral health status including examination of hard dental tissues and periodontium in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and compare the results with healthy controls.

Social participation of rheumatoid arthritis patients: Does illness perception play a role?

Objective: Social participation is an important aspect associated with health-related outcomes in chronic diseases. However, little is known about the factors that may affect participation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We aimed to examine whether pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and illness perception are associated with social participation in patients with RA when controlled for clinical and sociodemographic variables.

A cross-sectional study of multidimensional fatigue in biologic-treated rheumatoid arthritis: which variables play a role?

Purpose: Despite efficient biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients still suffer from high fatigue. This study aims to further our knowledge by assessing severity levels of the various fatigue dimensions and their associations with pain, sleep quality, and psychological well-being in bDMARDs treated RA patients.

Material And Methods: The sample consisted of 146 RA patients (84.

Reproductive Healthcare in Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Diseases in Routine Clinical Practice: Survey Results of Rheumatologists and Dermatologists.

Introduction: The proportion of women being treated with biologics is growing. However, data on treatment recommendation awareness among treating physicians and women who are considering pregnancy and family planning are limited. In this study, we used a questionnaire survey to learn how rheumatologists and dermatologists address women's needs for family planning, pregnancy, and breastfeeding, as well as their possible concerns with concurrent inflammatory rheumatic disease or psoriasis.

The Roma Population Living in Segregated Settlements in Eastern Slovakia Has a Higher Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome, Kidney Disease, Viral Hepatitis B and E, and Some Parasitic Diseases Compared to the Majority Population.

: The Roma population is one of the largest marginalized population groups in Europe. The aim of our work was to summarize the morbidity of lifestyle-related diseases and infectious diseases in the Roma population living in segregated settlements. : We used data from the cross-sectional study HepaMeta, in which we examined 452 Roma subjects with an average age of 34.

Living with Systematic Lupus Erythematosus: A Profile of Young Female Patients.

The aim is to describe a profile of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patient (socio-demographic data, course of disease, health status, and health care utilization, SLE impact on their life, SLE awareness) and to explore the association of patient's perspective with clinical indicators. Adult patients diagnosed by SLE were recruited in outpatient clinics ( = 76, 88% female, data collected in 2012-2016, Slovakia). The association of patients' perspective (SLE status, health complaints during remission, SLE impact, hospitalizations) with clinical activity (European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement Index - ECLAM) and inflammatory marker (erythrocyte sedimentation rate - ESR) was assessed by -test for independent variables and one-way ANOVA.

Anxiety and depression in Slovak patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is significantly associated with psychiatric morbidity. Mental health conditions are often unrecognized and untreated in primary care.

Aims: To assess prevalence of anxiety and depression and their impact on arthritis pain and functional disability in Slovak patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Social participation in early and established rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine whether rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with different levels of restriction in social participation differ in disease related as well as psychosocial variables and whether a similar pattern can be found among early and established RA patients.

Method: Two samples of RA patients with early (n = 97; age = 53 ± 12.3 years; disease duration = 2.

Systemic lupus erythematosus--disease impact on patients.

Aim: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that can affect almost all organs of the body. Lupus is a non-curable disease and the treatment is based on symptom control by immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory treatment. The disease itself as well as treatment-related adverse events have a significant negative impact on life expectancy and quality of life of patients.

Social support as a moderator of functional disability's effect on depressive feelings in early rheumatoid arthritis: a four-year prospective study.

Objective: To examine associations of depressive feelings with disease-related variables and explore the moderating effect of social support on depressive feelings in individuals with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prospectively over 4 years.

Method: Data were collected annually over 4 years. The sample consisted of 124 individuals with diagnosed RA (85.

Is the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 a good tool to assess quality of life in Slovak patients with rheumatoid arthritis?

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 (AIMS2) in Slovak patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Background: RA impacts all aspects of life quality (QoL). Many instruments for QoL in RA patients frequently assess only biological aspects.

Social support and psychological distress in rheumatoid arthritis: a 4-year prospective study.

Introduction: The objective of the study was to investigate the course of psychological distress in early rheumatoid arthritis patients and to explore the strength of its associations with disease-related variables over time. A further aim focused specifically on the associations between social support and psychological distress.

Methods: The study had a longitudinal design, with four annual measurements over consecutive years.

Prevalence and risk factors for prehypertension and hypertension in five Indian cities.

Background: There are few studies detailing the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension in India.

Methods: Men and women, over 25 years of age were included. After completion of a dietitian-administered questionnaire followed evaluation by a physician, physical examination and blood pressure measurement.

[Evaluating of quality of life and functional status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

There is a growing worldwide interest for more information regarding morbidity and especially chronic diseases as well as the economical burden which it creates for the disabled individual and the society as a whole. Recently, increased attention has been paid to the scientific assessment of quality of life in chronically ill. Measures of physical and other abilities have shown a great prognostic value regarding disease outcomes.

Autoimmune thyroid disease and autoimmune rheumatic disorders: a two-sided analysis.

Unlabelled: Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (ATD) frequently overlaps with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of various non-organ-specific autoantibodies in patients with ATD, as well as the presence of ATD in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Subjects And Methods: Group 1 comprised 80 patients with ATD, and group 2 contained 80 patients with SLE or RA.

[Prolactin--a marker of the activity of connective tissue systemic disease?].

Unlabelled: The ethiopathogenesis of auto-immune diseases has not yet been fully explored. Auto-immune diseases develop in individuals with a genetic pre-disposition. Among the endogenous factors, also sexual hormones play a role, especially prolactin.

Successful therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin in the management of polymyositis.

Polymyositis is an inflammation of muscle tissue of unknown etiology. It is characterized by symmetric, mainly proximal muscle weakness, muscle fiber damage proved on biopsy, increased enzymes and myoglobin, and has corresponding electromyography findings. Other systems such as joints, lungs, heart, and gastrointestinal system are involved.

Efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin treatment in lupus erythematosus chorea.

Chorea is a rare complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is strongly related to the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. Various infections may also be triggering factors in the development of choreiform movements. Additionally, Salmonella infection is the most common opportunistic bacterial infection in SLE patients.

Severe limb necrosis: primary thrombotic microangiopathy or "seronegative" catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome? A diagnostic dilemma.

An episode of gastroenteritis triggered severe necrosis of all extremities in a previously asymptomatic male. Hepatic and renal involvement were also manifest, while the hematological picture was one of thrombotic microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. Antiphospholipid antibodies were negative.

[Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and connective tissue system diseases].

Autoimmune thyroiditis is often related to non-specific autoimmune organ diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, systemic sclerosis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or polymyalgia rheumatica. Etiology of autoimmune diseases has not been clearly discovered yet. In many aspects, mechanisms leading to organ-specific autoimmune diseases are identic with mechanisms causing organ-nonspecific autoimmune disease.

The impact of pain on psychological well-being in rheumatoid arthritis: the mediating effects of self-esteem and adjustment to disease.

The aim of this study was to determine whether self-esteem and adjustment to disease can mediate the association between pain and psychological well-being in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Coefficients of correlation, multiple linear regressions and Structural Equation Model (SEM) were employed in order to examine the direct and indirect relationships between pain, self-esteem, adjustment to disease and psychological well-being in a sample of 160 recently-diagnosed RA-patients. The outcomes of the analyses indicate that self-esteem and adjustment to disease are important links between pain and psychological well-being.

[Reliability and validition of the Slovak modified version of the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire using the functional disability index in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

Background: Functional disability is one of the most important consequences of RA in the patient's daily life. The HAQ has been widely used in its self administered form for the assessment of disability. A sensitive and valid instrument is needed for a Slovak population with RA.