Agreement of Turkish Physiatrists with the Assessment in Spondyloarthritis International Society and the European League Against Rheumatism Recommendations for the Management of Ankylosing Spondylitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: New developments in the field of targeted therapies or biologic agents led more effective management of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recommendations for the management of rheumatic diseases propose to reduce inappropriate use of medications, minimize variations among countries, and enable cost-effective use of health care resources. Objective: The aim this study was to evaluate conceptual agreement of ASsessment in SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) and the EUropean League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for the management of AS and EULAR recommendations for RA and to assess the rate of application among Turkish physiatrists in daily clinical practice. Methods: An online survey link has been sent to 1756 Turkish physiatrists with e-mails asking to rate agreement on 11-item ASAS/EULAR AS recommendations and 15-item EULAR RA recommendations with synthetic and biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Also barriers and difficulties for using biologic agents were assessed. Results: Three hundred nine physiatrists (17.5%) completed the survey. The conceptual agreement with both recommendations was very high (Level of agreement; mean 8.35±0.82 and 8.90± 0.67 for RA and AS recommendations, respectively), and the self-declared application of overall recommendations in the clinical practice was also high for both RA and AS (72.42% and 75.71%, respectively). Conclusion: Turkish physiatrists are in good conceptual agreement with the evidence-based recommendations for the management of AS and RA. These efforts may serve to disseminate the knowledge and increase the current awareness among physicians who serve to these patients and also implementation of these recommendations is expected to increase as well.PubMedScopu

The Turkish League Against Rheumatism Recommendations for the Management of Hand Osteoarthritis Under Guidance of the Current Literature and 2018 European League Against Rheumatism Recommendations

Objectives: This study aims to explore the accordance to the 2018 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for the management of hand osteoarthritis (OA) among the Turkish League Against Rheumatism (TLAR) expert panel and composition of TLAR recommendations for the management of hand OA under guidance of the current literature. Materials and methods: The TLAR convener designated an expert panel of 10 physicians experienced in hand OA for this process. The 2018 EULAR recommendations for the management of hand OA and the systematic review of the literature were sent to the expert panel via e-mails. The e-mail process which included Delphi round surveys was completed. The EULAR standard operational procedure Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II was followed. The level of agreement was calculated for each item and presented as mean, standard deviations, minimum and maximum and comparisons of 2018 EULAR recommendations were performed. Results: Five overarching principles and 10 recommendations were discussed. Revisions were held for the sixth, seventh, and ninth recommendations with lowest level of agreements. These recommendations were revised in accordance with suggestions from the experts and re-voted. The revised forms were approved despite the lack of statistically significant difference between these forms (p=0.400, p=0.451, p=0.496, respectively). Except for the ninth recommendation about surgery (p=0.008), no significant difference in level of agreements was observed between the EULAR and TLAR hand OA recommendations. The 11th recommendation about paraffin bath was added. Conclusion: The optimal treatment of hand OA consists of personalized non-pharmacological (self-management, exercise, splint), pharmacological (topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as the first choice), and interventional procedures (only for refractory cases) based on shared decision between the patient and physician. TLAR hand OA recommendations were created mainly based on the most recent literature and the last EULAR hand OA management recommendations, which are widely approved among the TLAR experts

The efficacy of mirror therapy in patients with adhesive capsulitis: A randomized, prospective, controlled study

#nofulltext# --- Erçalık, Cem (Arel Author)OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of mirror therapy (MT) in conjunction with a standard physical therapy program on shoulder range of motion (ROM), pain and quality of life in patients with adhesive capsulitis (AC).METHOD: This prospective, randomized, controlled, single blind study included 30 patients with AC who were scheduled to undergo 10 sessions of standard physical therapy. The participants were divided into two identical groups, namely, The MT group and the control group. After each session, the MT group underwent active ROM exercises with the reflective side of the mirror while the control group underwent active ROM exercises with the non-reflective side of the mirror. Pre-treatment and post-treatment shoulder pain (VAS), shoulder function (UCLA shoulder scale) and quality of life (SF-36) were assessed, and active and passive ROM were quantified with a goniometer. RESULTS: Both groups revealed a significant reduction of shoulder pain and significant improvement of shoulder function, active and passive ROM, and quality of life after the treatment. Post-treatment measurements showed that the MT group had a significantly lower amount of pain compared to the control group (p = 0.007). The UCLA scores were significantly higher in the MT group (p = 0.003). The MT group had significantly better post-treatment active flexion, active abduction, passive flexion, and passive abduction values (p = 0.001, p = 0.02, p = 0.002, and p = 0.02, respectively). The MT group had significant post-treatment improvement in physical function, physical role limitation and emotional role limitation, and pain parameters including SF-36 (p = 0.003, p = 0.01, p = 0.015, and p = 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION: MT in conjunction with physical therapy appears to be an effective treatment modality that reduces shoulder pain and improves shoulder ROM, shoulder function, and quality of life among patients with AC

POSSIBLE POTENTIAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN OBESITY, QUALITY OF LIFE, PSYCHOLOGICAL STATUS AND CLINICAL PARAMETERS IN PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS

Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) -- JUN 12-15, 2019 -- Madrid, SPAINSunar, Ismihan/0000-0002-4435-5677; Yurdakul, Ozan Volkan/0000-0003-4567-8133; alkan, hakan/0000-0001-8461-9131; KILIC, Erkan/0000-0003-4355-4356; Keskin, Yasar/0000-0003-4457-5917; Calis, Mustafa/0000-0002-1184-0772; Ayhan, Fikriye Figen/0000-0001-6906-991X; Duruoz, Mehmet Tuncay/0000-0003-3584-2788WOS: 000472207103578[No abstract available]European League Against Rheumatis

THE EFFECT OF GENDER ON DISEASE ACTIVITY, FUNCTIONAL INDEX AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH AXIAL SPA. THE DATA OF TLAR-NETWORK PSA STUDY

Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) -- JUN 12-15, 2019 -- Madrid, SPAINCalis, Mustafa/0000-0002-1184-0772; Ataman, Sebnem/0000-0003-3570-3825; Ayhan, Fikriye Figen/0000-0001-6906-991X; alkan, hakan/0000-0001-8461-9131; Duruoz, Mehmet Tuncay/0000-0003-3584-2788; Yurdakul, Ozan Volkan/0000-0003-4567-8133;WOS: 000472207102501…European League Against Rheumatis