22 research outputs found
Five year retrospective study of mortality in systemic inflammatory rheumatologic disorders
Background: Inflammatory systemic rheumatologic disorders are responsible for significant morbidity and premature deaths. The present study was done to assess causes of mortality in these patients.Methods: In the retrospective study, the death records of patients with inflammatory rheumatologic illnesses from January 2012 to January 2017 were studied. The demographic details, disease activity, organ involvement, treatment received and evidence of infection were noted.Results: 50 records were analyzed (25 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 13 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), four immune myositis, three systemic sclerosis (SS), two takayasu’s arteritis (TA), two ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and one granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA)). The me an age of death was 39.94 years. Sixteen patients had disease related organ damage, 17 had active disease. Infection was present in 31 patients (gram negative organisms most commonly isolated), being the major contributor of mortality. Only two patients succumbed to acute coronary syndrome.Conclusions: Infection, disease activity and organ damage due to the disease are the major contributors to of death in hospitalized patients with inflammatory rheumatological disorders
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The Impact of Pruritus on Quality of Life: The Skin Equivalent of Pain
Objective To compare the impact of chronic pruritus and chronic pain on quality of life (QoL) using directly elicited health utility scores. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Convenience sample of patients attending the Emory Dermatology Clinic, Emory Spine Center, and Emory Center for Pain Management, Atlanta, Georgia. Participants Adult men and women (aged ≥18 years) experiencing chronic pain or pruritus for 6 weeks or more. Main Outcome Measures The mean utility score of patients with chronic pruritus was compared with that of patients with chronic pain. A regression analysis was performed to determine the impact of the primary predictor variable —symptom type —on the primary outcome variable —mean utility score (a metric representing the impact on QoL). Results The study included 73 patients with chronic pruritus and 138 patients with chronic pain. The mean (SD) utility among patients with pruritus was 0.87 (0.27) compared with 0.77 (0.31) for patients with pain (P Conclusions Chronic pruritus has a substantial impact on QoL, one that may be comparable to that of pain. The severity of symptoms and the use of support networks are the main factors that determine the degree to which patients are affected by their symptoms. Addressing support networks in addition to developing new therapies may improve the QoL of itchy patients