Association between characteristics of pain and stiffness and the functional status of patients with incident polymyalgia rheumatica from primary care

AbstractThis paper aims to examine the relationship between different characteristics of pain and stiffness and the functional status of patients with newly diagnosed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Baseline analysis of an inception cohort study was conducted. Patients aged ≥18 years, with a new diagnosis of PMR were recruited from 382 English general practices. Participants were mailed a baseline questionnaire, including separate pain and stiffness manikins and numerical rating scales (NRS), a question on their ability to raise their arms above their head and the m odified Health Assessment Questionnaire (mHAQ) to examine participants’ functional status. Linear regression analysis, reported as regression co-efficients (95% confidence intervals (95% CI)), was used to assess the association of pain and stiffness with function, initially unadjusted and then adj usted for age, gender, deprivation status, smoking status, BMI, anxiety and depression. Six hundred fifty two patients responded to the baseline survey (88.5%). The majority (88.2%) reported no, or mild impairment in their functional status. Adjusted linear regression analysis demonstrated that high (NRS ≥8) pain (0.20 (95% CI 0.10–0.28)) or stiffness (0.18 (0.09–0.26)) ratings, an increasing number of sites of pain (0.18 (0.06–0.29)) or stiffness (0.19 (0.08–0.31)) and shoulder pain (0.18 (0.05–0.31)), stiffness (0.10 (0.01–0.20)) and difficulty raising arms above one’s head ( 0.19 (0.10–0.28)) were...
Source: Clinical Rheumatology - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: research