Direct Awards in Germany – Design And Effects

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Construct validity of Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) treatment target cut-offs in a BASDAI treat-to-target axial spondyloarthritis cohort: a cross-sectional study

Objective: In axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) are recommended for use in treat-to-target (T2T) strategies. However, BASDAI disease states may be a less suitable T2T instrument than ASDAS, since BASDAI contains non-disease activity related items. The objective of our study was to investigate the construct validity of BASDAI and ASDAS disease states. Method: We performed a single-centre cross-sectional study on BASDAI and ASDAS construct validity in long-term BASDAI T2T-treated axSpA patients. Our hypothesis was that BASDAI is less representative of disease activity than ASDAS owing to the focus on pain and fatigue, and missing an objective item, e.g. C-reactive protein (CRP). This was operationalized using several subhypotheses. Results: The study included 242 axSpA patients. BASDAI and ASDAS disease states showed a similar relation to Patient Acceptable Symptom State and T2T protocol adherence. The proportions of patients with high BASDAI and ASDAS disease activity fulfilling Central Sensitization Inventory and fibromyalgia syndrome criteria were similar. The correlation with fatigue was moderate for both BASDAI (Spearman's rho 0.64) and ASDAS (Spearman's rho 0.54) disease states. A high ASDAS was strongly correlated with increased CRP (relative risk 6.02, 95% CI 3.0-12.09), while this correlation was not seen for BASDAI (relative risk 1.13, 95% CI 0.74-1.74).Conclusion: Our study showed moderate and comparable construct validity for BASDAI- and ASDAS-based disease activity states, with the expected exception of association with CRP. Therefore, no strong preference can be given for either measure, although the ASDAS seems marginally more valid.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease

Therapeutic interventions in systemic sclerosis

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[Treatment of systemic sclerosis.]

Contains fulltext : 49272.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma) is a multisystem disease with a bad prognosis. No drugs have been shown to cure this disease. In view of its pathogenesis, in which immune responses are presumed to play an important role, immune suppressive therapies are widely applied in the treatment of SSc. Recent placebo-controlled trials with cyclophosphamide in patients with SSc complicated by alveolitis, show a modest but significant difference in pulmonary function tests in favour for the cyclophosphamide treated group. Treatment with prostacyclin analogues and endothelin-1 receptor antagonists appear to stabilize pulmonary arterial hypertension, a thus far fatal complication of SSc

Clinical aspects of systemic and localized scleroderma

Contains fulltext : 21697.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Citrulline is an essential constituent of antigenic determinants recognizid by rheumatoid arthritis-specific autoantibodies

Contains fulltext : 138823.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)9 p

Analysis of anti-U1 RNA antibodies in patients with connective tissue diseases

Contains fulltext : 22818.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Anti-U1snRNP antibodies and clinical associations

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Anti-U1snRNP antibodies and clinical associations

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