BACKGROUND There is a critical shortage of pediatric rheumatologists in the US. Substantial travel to clinics can impose time and monetary burdens on families. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost of in-person pediatric rheumatology visits for families and determine if telemedicine clinics resulted in time and cost savings. Factors associated with interest in telemedicine were also ex...

1 Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich Alexander University ErlangenNuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, 2 Medical Clinic II, Waldkrankenhaus, Erlangen, Germany, 3 Medical Clinic III for Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, 4 Institute of Pathology, Friedrich...

1 Rheumatoid arthritis — class prediction by autoreactivity profiles R Bergholz1, F Schumann1, S Behrens1, U Ungethüm1, G Valet2, WA Schmidt3, GR Burmester1, JM Engel4, WJ van Venrooij5, G Steiner6, S Bläß1 1Department of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology, Charité University Clinic, Berlin, Germany 2MPI Biochemistry, Munich, Germany 3Clinic for Rheumatology Berlin Buch, Berlin, Germany 4Rheuma...

Objective—To investigate the relation between measures of pain threshold and symptoms of distress to determine if fibromyalgia is a discrete construct/ disorder in the clinic. Methods—627 patients seen at an outpatient rheumatology centre from 1993 to 1996 underwent tender point and dolorimetry examinations. All completed the assessment scales for fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression...

1 Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Mother Theresa St., 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo 2 Rheumatology Department, Clinic for Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Mother Theresa St., 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo 3 Institute for Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, Mother Theresa St., 10000 Prishtina, Kos...

OBJECTIVE To identify characteristics of early arthritis units, that may be associated with better referral eficiency. METHODS A national survey of the 36 early arthritis units (EAU) in Spanish Rheumatology Units in 2004 (SERAP project). Survey collected information about general practitioners (GP) educational program to improve knowledge and practical skills of early arthritis, networking an...

OBJECTIVE To examine the sensitivity of patient self reported diagnoses compared with physician diagnoses in a rheumatology outpatient population. METHODS A mailed survey to 472 rheumatology outpatients (81% response rate) asked about joint symptoms, disabilities, and underlying rheumatic conditions. The self-reported diagnoses were linked with physician diagnoses in the rheumatology clinic c...

OBJECTIVE In Rheumatology, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has been widely prescribed and used. However, despite their clinical benefits in the management of inflammatory and degenerative joint disease, NSAIDs have considerable side effects, mostly affecting the upper gastrointestinal system, which therefore, limit their use. This study was conducted to determine the patients' kn...