Publications by authors named "Signe Rifbjerg-Madsen"

Objective: Fatigue is one of the most significant symptoms, and an outcome of great importance, in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but associations between underlying components of fatigue experienced by patients in relation to the disease have been sparsely investigated. The objectives were to describe the degree of fatigue in patients with PsA, and to examine important components associated with fatigue.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey including patients registered in the Danish nationwide registry DANBIO from December 2013 to June 2014.

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Background: People with hand-related rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience problems performing activities of daily living (ADL). Compensatory strategies to improve ADL ability have shown effective. Similarly, hand exercise has shown effect on pain, grip strength, and self-reported ability.

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Background: Evidence is emerging that pain in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) exists without underlying inflammation. Our objective was to evaluate the prognostic value of pain classification at treatment initiation using the painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ). Outcomes were change in DAS28-CRP and RAMRIS synovitis score.

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Background: Pain is inherent in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) and traditionally considered to be of nociceptive origin. Emerging data suggest a potential role of augmented central pain mechanisms in subsets of patients, thus, valid instruments that can identify underlying pain mechanisms are needed. The painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ) was originally designed to differentiate between pain phenotypes.

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Objective: Previous studies have suggested a link between inflammation and central sensitization of pain in patients with RA. We conducted a prospective cohort study to determine whether US Doppler (USD), temporal summation (TS) of pain-assessed at baseline-and the potential interaction between them could predict the treatment response in RA.

Methods: Patients were recruited from Departments of Rheumatology in the Copenhagen area and from private clinics.

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Introduction: Pain in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is traditionally considered to be of inflammatory origin. Despite better control of inflammation, some patients still report pain as a significant concern, even when being in clinical remission. This suggests that RA may prompt central sensitisation-one aspect of chronic pain.

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Introduction: Chronic pain is common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and may still persist despite regression of objective signs of inflammation. This has led researchers to hypothesise that central pain sensitisation may play a role in the generation of chronic pain in RA. Application of the disease activity score DAS28 can classify some patients with active RA solely based on a high tender joint count and poor patient global health score.

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Objective: To investigate disease activity, treatment response, and drug survival, and predictors thereof, among Danish patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) receiving their first treatment series with a tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) inhibitor.

Methods: Patients with PsA were identified from a prospective nationwide rheumatologic database, the Danish biologics registry DANBIO, using data registered from 2000-2009. Information was obtained on the patients' clinical response to anti-TNFα treatment (defined as achievement of the American College of Rheumatology 20% [ACR20], ACR50, and ACR70 improvement criteria or a European League Against Rheumatism [EULAR] good response at least once during the first 6 months of treatment) and duration and rate of drug adherence (referred to as drug survival), as well as predictors thereof.

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