Cost-utility analysis of longstanding exercise therapy versus usual care in people with rheumatoid arthritis and severe functional limitations.

Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of longstanding personalized exercise therapy compared with usual care in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and severe functional disability.

Method: In this cost-utility analysis of a randomized controlled trial (n = 215), with 1 year follow-up, the study population comprised individuals with RA and reported severe difficulties in performing basic daily activities. Assessments were at baseline, 12, 26, and 52 weeks, with measurements of costs including medical and non-medical costs as recorded by patients and healthcare providers.

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.

Functional limitations of people with rheumatoid arthritis or axial spondyloarthritis and severe functional disability: a cross-sectional descriptive study.

The objective of the study is to describe the nature of functional limitations in activities and participation in people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) or axial SpondyloArthritis (axSpA) with severe functional disability. Baseline data from people with RA (n = 206) or axSpA (n = 155) and severe functional disability participating in an exercise trial were used. Their three most limited activities were derived from the Patient Specific Complaint (PSC) instrument and linked to the International Classification of Functioning and Health (ICF).

Physical therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis: the patients' perspective.

Objective: To assess the duration, frequency, and content of individual physical therapy (PT) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Method: In this cross-sectional study, an electronic questionnaire aimed at people with RA and axSpA was distributed through various communication channels of the Dutch Arthritis Foundation. It comprised questions on sociodemographic and health characteristics, received PT (currently and/or in the past year) and, if applicable, its duration, frequency, and content (active exercises, manual treatment, physical modalities, and/or counselling/education).

Construct validity of the PROMIS PF-10 in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and severe limitations in physical functioning.

Objective: Assessing the construct validity of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function 10-Item Short Form (PROMIS PF-10) in a subpopulation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) patients with severe limitations in physical functioning (PF).

Method: RA/axSpA patients with severe functional limitations completed the PROMIS PF-10, Health Assessment Questionnaire - Disability Index (HAQ-DI for RA) or Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI for axSpA), 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), EuroQol 5-dimensions 5-level (index score, EQ-VAS), and performed the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT). Construct validity was assessed by computing Spearman rank or Pearson correlation coefficients and testing hypotheses about correlations between the PROMIS PF-10 and measures of PF and quality of life.

Reporting quality of interventions using a wearable activity tracker to improve physical activity in patients with inflammatory arthritis or osteoarthritis: a systematic review.

To assess the reporting quality of interventions aiming at promoting physical activity (PA) using a wearable activity tracker (WAT) in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) or hip/knee osteoarthritis (OA). A systematic search was performed in eight databases (including PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) for studies published between 2000 and 2022. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data on study characteristics and the reporting of the PA intervention using a WAT using the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) (12 items) and Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) E-Health checklist (16 items).

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.

How should proxies of cognitive reserve be evaluated in a population of healthy older adults?

Background: While some tools have been developed to estimate an individual's cognitive reserve (CR), no study has assessed the adequacy of the method used for assessing these CR proxy indicators. Therefore, we aimed to determine the most appropriate method to estimate CR by comparing two approaches: (1) the common assessment of CR proxies in the literature (e.g.

Review: Viral infections and mechanisms of thrombosis and bleeding.

Viral infections are associated with coagulation disorders. All aspects of the coagulation cascade, primary hemostasis, coagulation, and fibrinolysis, can be affected. As a consequence, thrombosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation, hemorrhage, or both, may occur.

One-year epidemiology of fever at the Emergency Department.

Background: Although fever is recognised as a major presentation symptom at Emergency Departments (EDs) and is often used as a rationale for the institution of antibiotics, few studies describing patients with fever as the sole inclusion criterion at the ED of a general hospital have been performed. The objective of this study is to describe epidemiology of non-surgical febrile patients at the ED and to identify risk factors for adverse outcome.

Methods: Blood, sputum, urine and faeces cultures, urine sediments and throat swaps for viral diagnostics were obtained from febrile ED patients.

Prolactin is involved in the systemic inflammatory response in myocardial infarction.

Prolactin may contribute to an atherogenic phenotype. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that prolactin levels increase in situations of acute stress and inflammation. We therefore aimed to investigate the relationship between prolactin, acute stress and inflammation in patients with myocardial infarction.

Unusual presentation of Lemierre's syndrome: two cases and a review.

Lemierre's syndrome is a potentially fatal disease that usually presents with oropharyngeal infection, followed by sepsis, thrombosis of the internal jugular vein and septic emboli. Most cases are caused by the Gram-negative, anaerobic Fusobacterium necrophorum. We present two patients with an atypical presentation of Lemierre's syndrome and a review.

Influenza infection and risk of acute pulmonary embolism.

Background: Influenza infections have been associated with procoagulant changes. Whether influenza infections lead to an increased risk of pulmonary embolism remains to be established.

Methods: We conducted a nested case control study in a large cohort of patients with a clinical suspicion of having pulmonary embolism.

Outcome of patients with esophageal carcinoma and suspicious celiac lymph nodes as determined by endoscopic ultrasonography.

Background And Study Aims: The management of patients with esophageal cancer with malignant celiac lymph nodes (CLNs) is controversial. In this study we evaluated the management and survival of patients with positive CLN findings on endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and compared the outcome in surgically treated patients with that of nonsurgically treated patients.

Patients And Methods: The EUS database of the Academic Medical Center was retrospectively searched for patients with esophageal carcinoma and EUS-positive CLN.

IFN-gamma amplifies IL-6 and IL-8 responses by airway epithelial-like cells via indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.

Respiratory viral infections increase inflammatory responses to concurrent or secondary bacterial challenges, thereby worsening disease outcome. This potentiation of inflammation is explained at least in part by IFN-gamma promoting increased sensitivity to TNF-alpha and LPS. We sought to determine whether and, if so, how IFN-gamma can modulate proinflammatory responses to TNF-alpha and LPS by epithelial cells, which are key effector cells in the airways.