Since 1999, 60 rheumatologists have received the Clinician Scholar Educator Award from the Rheumatology Research Foundation. These clinician educators have benefitted professionally from the award and have also dedicated themselves to the advancement of education. Most spend at least 30% of their time engaged in education, and awardees provide curriculum widely used in rheumatology fellowship programs…
Conservative vs. Surgical: What Influences OA Treatment Choices?
Prior research has found that the use of surgery to treat osteoarthritis is increasing, while more conservative treatments, such as physical therapy, are underused. This disparity drove researchers to examine what influences a patient’s treatment choice. They found that a treatment’s characteristics—including a patient’s expectations for effectiveness and risk—affect decision making. Other influences: personal investment and circumstances, as well as support and advice from social networks and healthcare providers…
Milestones of Rheumatology Education
In 2013, a collaboration began to advance the training and assessment of fellows. The result: A uniform set of educational reporting milestones for all internal medicine subspecialties was developed. Key stakeholders were then asked to develop a list of entrustable professional activities (EPAs), a set of responsibilities any specialist should be able to perform, for their subspecialties. The ACR’s Next Accreditation System working group developed 14 EPAs for rheumatology…
RA Choice: A Tool to Improve Patient Literacy
Doctor-patient communication is critical for successfully treating rheumatoid arthritis. But a majority of RA patients report suboptimal shared decision making, sometimes due to language barriers, lack of time, limited health literacy and other factors. A recent pilot study sought to improve patient understanding and communication by employing an adapted medication guide and decision aid during clinical visits. Use of the tool, RA Choice, resulted in an increase in patient knowledge, and a majority of clinicians found it helpful…
Researchers Calculate Comorbidity Burden for Patients with SLE
A recent study from the U.K. calculated the incidence of comorbidity associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), specifically looking for cardiovascular disease, stroke, end-stage renal failure, cancer, osteoporosis and infection. Even after adjusting for age, sex and other variables, investigators found that people with SLE have an increased global burden of comorbidity compared with the general population. Additionally, the study found that men with SLE had higher rates of cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer, while women with SLE had higher rates of infection and osteoporosis. Overall, younger people with SLE had the greatest relative risk compared with controls…
Foot Orthoses vs. Rocker-Sole Footwear: Which Treatment Is More Effective for Reducing Pain in First MPT Joint OA?
Foot osteoarthritis (OA) of the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint is thought to have biomechanical factors, but its treatments have not been comprehensively tested in clinical trials. In the first study to explore the efficacy of mechanical interventions, researchers compared the effectiveness of foot orthoses and rocker-sole footwear in reducing pain. Both interventions were effective, but the foot orthoses group wore the intervention for significantly more hours than the footwear group…
Clinical Trials: Zilretta Promising for Knee OA Pain & Golimumab Completes Phase 3 Trial
In recent Phase 3 clinical trials, Zirletta proved effective in managing pain for patients with knee osteoarthritis, and subcutaneous golimumab helped patients with psoriatic arthritis achieve long-term functional improvement…
Does PTSD Increase Risk of RA for Women?
Multiple studies have linked post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), specifically in men. Using data from a 22-year cohort study, researchers were able to analyze the association between PTSD and the risk of RA in women. This large study builds on and expands previous findings by exploring whether the effects of PTSD differ for RA subtypes. As a secondary objective, researchers also examined smoking as a behavioral confounder and/or mediator in the relationship between PTSD and risk for RA…
VA Musculoskeletal Education Pilot Program Helps PCPs Treat Patients
To improve access to quality of care for patients with osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal pain, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched a continuing education program designed to strengthen the musculoskeletal knowledge and skills of primary care providers (PCPs). In the program’s initial trial in 2012, 19 physicians were trained on exams, treatments and joint injections. Two years after course completion, some participants increased the number of intraarticular corticosteroid injections at their clinics without needing to refer patients to specialists…
Living with RA: Study Examines the Value of Patient Involvement in Creating Clinical Practice Guidelines
“The lived experience with RA is itself a valuable form of expertise,” writes Dr. Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH, and her colleagues in their latest research. To examine the value of this expertise and how it can be incorporated into clinical practice guidelines, researchers developed 18 questions for which two panels—one physician dominated and one comprising entirely patients—would develop recommendations. For a majority of these questions, the patient panel made the same recommendations as the physician panel, with similar recommendation strengths…
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