An engineered glove to follow finger function in rheumatoid arthritis: an observational prospective study

AbstractThe engineered Hand Test System (HTS) glove has shown high reliability in assessing the baseline functional status of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) hand. Starting from this achievement, the aim of the present observational prospective study was to assess the functionality of the single fingers of rheumatoid hand at follow-up. Eighty RA patients performed HTS glove tests at baseline and among these fifty-six patients were re-tested after 7 months. The HTS glove parameters [Touch Duration (TD), Movement Rate (MR), Inter Tapping Interval (ITI)] were correlated with disease activity and disability clinimetric indexes [Disease Activity Score 28 joint count —C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), Health Assessment Questionnaire—Disability Index (HAQ-DI), grip strength, visual analogue scale of pain (VAS), patient global assessment (PGA)], and with laboratory values. HTS glov e parameters (TD, ITI, and MR) showed statistically significant correlations with clinimetric and clinical indexes at both time points (p <  0.05). During follow-up, a statistically significant variation of all HTS glove parameters for the fingers that have performed both the worst or best HTS test at baseline was detected (p <  0.05), while the mean HTS glove parameter values by considering all fingers did not show a statistically significant variation over time, as well as the traditional clinimetric indexes. Besi...
Source: Rheumatology International - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: research