One-year effectiveness of long-term exercise therapy in people with axial spondyloarthritis and severe functional limitations.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of long-term, personalized, supervised exercise therapy on functional ability compared with usual care in people with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and severe functional limitations.

Methods: Participants were randomly 1:1 assigned to the intervention(maximal 64 sessions, with 14 additional optional sessions of supervised active exercise therapy(e.g.

The Extent and Nature of Functional Limitations According to the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Severe Functional Disability.

Background: For a subgroup of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and severe disability, insight into their limitations is crucial for adequate treatment.

Aim: To describe the extent and nature of functional limitations in people with RA and severe disability and to explore the associations of the extent of the functional limitations with patient characteristics, disease characteristics, and outcome measures.

Methods: Baseline data of 215 participants in an RCT on the (cost-)effectiveness of longstanding physiotherapy were used.

Effectiveness of longstanding exercise therapy compared with usual care for people with rheumatoid arthritis and severe functional limitations: a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of longstanding (>52 weeks), supervised exercise therapy with usual care in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and severe functional limitations.

Methods: Participants were randomised 1:1 to the intervention (individualised goal-setting, active exercises, education and self-management regarding physical activity) or usual care. Primary endpoint was the change in the Patient-Specific Complaints activity ranked 1 (PSC1, 0-10) at 52 weeks.

Educational readiness among health professionals in rheumatology: low awareness of EULAR offerings and unfamiliarity with the course content as major barriers-results of a EULAR-funded European survey.

Background: Ongoing education of health professionals in rheumatology (HPR) is critical for high-quality care. An essential factor is education readiness and a high quality of educational offerings. We explored which factors contributed to education readiness and investigated currently offered postgraduate education, including the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) offerings.

Suitability of the animated activity questionnaire for use as computer adaptive test: establishing the AAQ-CAT.

Purpose: The animated activity questionnaire (AAQ) is a computer-based measure of activity limitations. To answer a question, patients choose the animation of a person performing an activity that matches their own level of limitation. The AAQ has not yet been tested for suitability to be applied as computer-adaptive test (CAT).

Web-Based System to Capture Consistent and Complete Real-world Data of Physical Therapy Interventions Following Total Knee Replacement: Design and Evaluation Study.

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) have the potential to facilitate consistent clinical data capture to support excellence in patient care, quality improvement, and knowledge generation. Despite widespread EHR use, the vision to transform health care system and its data to a "learning health care system" generating knowledge from real-world data is limited by the lack of consistent, structured clinical data.

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate the design of a web-based structured clinical intervention data capture system and its evaluation in practice.

Stratified exercise therapy does not improve outcomes compared with usual exercise therapy in people with knee osteoarthritis (OCTOPuS study): a cluster randomised trial.

Question: In people with knee osteoarthritis, how much more effective is stratified exercise therapy that distinguishes three subgroups (high muscle strength subgroup, low muscle strength subgroup, obesity subgroup) in reducing knee pain and improving physical function than usual exercise therapy?

Design: Pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial in a primary care setting.

Participants: A total of 335 people with knee osteoarthritis: 153 in an experimental arm and 182 in a control arm.

Intervention: Physiotherapy practices were randomised into an experimental arm providing stratified exercise therapy (supplemented by a dietary intervention from a dietician for the obesity subgroup) or a control arm providing usual, non-stratified exercise therapy.

Consensus-based recommendations on communication and education regarding primary care physical therapy for patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objective: This study aimed to develop recommendations for communication and postgraduate education regarding primary care physical therapy for systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods: A virtual Nominal Group Technique was used with tasks forces for communication (n = 18) and education (n = 21). Both included rheumatologists, physical therapists (PTs) in primary, secondary or tertiary care, rheumatology nurses, advanced nurse practictioners and patient representatives.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of longstanding exercise therapy versus usual care in patients with axial spondyloarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis and severe limitations: The protocols of two parallel randomized controlled trials.

Objectives: Research on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of longstanding exercise therapy in patients with axial SpondyloArthritis (axSpA) or Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is scarce, and mainly concerned patients with a relatively favorable health status. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of longstanding exercise therapy compared to usual care in the subgroup of patients with axSpA or RA and severe limitations in functioning.

Methods: In two separate, parallel randomized controlled trials the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of longstanding, active exercise therapy (52 weeks) compared with usual care (1:1) will be evaluated.

Point-of-care testing and treatment of sexually transmitted and genital infections during pregnancy in Papua New Guinea (WANTAIM trial): protocol for an economic evaluation alongside a cluster-randomised trial.

Introduction: Left untreated, sexually transmitted and genital infections (henceforth STIs) in pregnancy can lead to serious adverse outcomes for mother and child. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has among the highest prevalence of curable STIs including syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis, and high neonatal mortality rates. Diagnosis and treatment of these STIs in PNG rely on syndromic management.

Cross-cultural validity of the Animated Activity Questionnaire for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis: a comparison between the Netherlands and Brazil.

Background: The Animated Activity Questionnaire (AAQ) was developed in the Netherlands to assess activity limitations in individuals with hip/knee osteoarthritis (HKOA). The AAQ is easy to implement and minimizes the disadvantages of questionnaires and performance-based tests by closely mimicking real-life situations. The AAQ has already been cross-culturally validated in six other countries.

Clinical Practice Guideline for Physical Therapist Management of People With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: This guideline revises the 2008 Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy guideline for physical therapy for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Method: This revised guideline was developed according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation tool and the Guidelines International Network standards. A multidisciplinary guideline panel formulated clinical questions based on perceived barriers in current care.

Rationale and design of the PaTIO study: PhysiotherApeutic Treat-to-target Intervention after Orthopaedic surgery.

Background: Physiotherapy is a proven effective treatment strategy after total knee and hip arthroplasty (TKA/THA), however there is considerable practice variation regarding its timing, content and duration. This study aims to compare the (cost-) effectiveness of a standardized, treat-to-target postoperative physiotherapy strategy with usual postoperative care.

Methods: Using a cluster randomized study design, consecutive patients scheduled for a primary TKA/THA in 18 hospitals in the Netherlands will be assigned to the treat-to-target physio therapy strategy or usual postoperative care.

A clinical practice guideline for physical therapy in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to revise the 2010 Dutch guideline for physical therapy (PT) in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA), issued by the Royal Dutch Society for Physical Therapy (KNGF).

Method: This revised guideline was developed according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) and Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) standards. A multidisciplinary guideline panel formulated clinical questions based on perceived barriers to current care.

Point-of-care testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections to improve birth outcomes in high-burden, low-income settings: Study protocol for a cluster randomized crossover trial (the WANTAIM Trial, Papua New Guinea).

, , and bacterial vaginosis have been associated with preterm birth and low birth weight, and are highly prevalent among pregnant women in many low- and middle-income settings. There is conflicting evidence on the potential benefits of screening and treating these infections in pregnancy. Newly available diagnostic technologies make it possible, for the first time, to conduct definitive field trials to fill this knowledge gap.

Evaluation of an educational course for primary care physiotherapists on comorbidity-adapted exercise therapy in knee osteoarthritis: an observational study.

Objective: The objectives of the present study were to: (1) evaluate the effect of an educational course on competence (knowledge and clinical reasoning) of primary care physical therapists (PTs) in treating patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and comorbidity according to the developed strategy; and (2) identify facilitators and barriers for usage.

Method: The present research was an observational study with a pretest-posttest design using mixed methods. PTs were offered a postgraduate course consisting of e-learning and two workshops (blended education) on the application of a strategy for exercise prescription in patients with KOA and comorbidity.

Comparison of physical activity among different subsets of patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis and the general population.

To compare the amount of physical activity (PA) among patients with different subsets of knee or hip osteoarthritis (OA) and the general population. Secondary analyses of data of subjects ≥ 50 years from four studies: a study on the effectiveness of an educational program for OA patients in primary care (n = 110), a RCT on the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary self-management program for patients with generalized OA in secondary care (n = 131), a survey among patients who underwent total joint arthroplasty (TJA) for end-stage OA (n = 510), and a survey among the general population in the Netherlands (n = 3374). The Short QUestionnaire to ASssess Health-enhancing physical activity (SQUASH) was used to assess PA in all 4 studies.

Stratified exercise therapy compared with usual care by physical therapists in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled trial protocol (OCTOPuS study).

Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by its heterogeneity, with large differences in clinical characteristics between patients. Therefore, a stratified approach to exercise therapy, whereby patients are allocated to homogeneous subgroups and receive a stratified, subgroup-specific intervention, can be expected to optimize current clinical effects. Recently, we developed and pilot tested a model of stratified exercise therapy based on clinically relevant subgroups of knee OA patients that we previously identified.

Responsiveness and interpretability of the Animated Activity Questionnaire for assessing activity limitations of patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the responsiveness and interpretability of the Animated Activity Questionnaire (AAQ), an online questionnaire in which osteoarthritis patients select animations that best match their performance of daily activities.

Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out, in which 94 patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis were assessed at baseline, and 3 and 6 months after treatment (conservative and surgical). Responsiveness was assessed by means of testing hypotheses about expected correlations between change in AAQ, a Global Rating Scale of change (GRS) and change in the Activities of Daily Living subscale of the Hip disability or Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (H/KOOS), and a combination of performance-based tests (the 30 s chair-stand test, the timed up-and-go test and the nine-step stair climbing test).

Cross-Cultural and Construct Validity of the Animated Activity Questionnaire.

Objective: The Animated Activity Questionnaire (AAQ) assesses activity limitations in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis and consists of video animations; the patients choose the animation that best matches their own performance. The AAQ has shown good validity and reliability. This study aims to evaluate cross-cultural and construct validity of the AAQ.

Optimization of Analgesics for Greater Exercise Therapy Participation Among Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis and Severe Pain: A Feasibility Study.

Objective: Severe pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) hampers the ability to exercise. A protocol for the standardized optimization of analgesics in combination with exercise therapy was developed. The purpose of this protocol was to reduce pain, thereby allowing the patient to participate in exercise therapy.

Knee joint stabilization therapy in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and knee instability: subgroup analyses in a randomized, controlled trial.

Objective: To test whether knee stabilization therapy, prior to strength/functional training, may have added value in reducing activity limitations only in patients with knee osteoarthritis who have knee instability and (i) low upper leg muscle strength, (ii) impaired knee proprioception, (iii) high knee laxity, or (iv) frequent episodes of knee instability.

Design: Subgroup analyses in a randomized controlled trial comparing 2 exercise programmes (with/without knee stabilization therapy) (STABILITY; NTR1475).

Patients: Participants from the STABILITY-trial with clinical knee osteoarthritis and knee instability (n = 159).

Development of comorbidity-adapted exercise protocols for patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Background: Exercise therapy is generally recommended for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Comorbidity, which is highly prevalent in OA, may interfere with exercise therapy. To date, there is no evidence-based protocol for the treatment of patients with knee OA and comorbidity.