HATİCE BODUR ,
Fatma Gül YURDAKUL ,
Tuncay DURUÖZ ,
Fatih ÇAY ,
Ülkü UÇAR ,
Yaşar KESKİN ,
Betül SARGIN ,
Gülcan GÜRER ,
Ozan Volkan YURDAKUL ,
Mustafa ÇALIŞ ,
Hülya DEVECİ ,
Yıldıray AYDIN ,
Sami HİZMETLİ ,
Remzi ÇEVİK ,
Ali Yavuz KARAHAN ,
Şebnem ATAMAN ,
Hilal ECESOY , Zafer GÜNENDİ,
Murat TOPRAK ,
Nesrin ŞEN ,
Duygu ALTINTAŞ ,
A. Kıvanç CENGİZ ,
Gökhan ÇAĞLAYAN ,
Ali Nail DEMİR ,
Hüseyin KAPLAN ,
Sertaç KETENCİ ,
Meltem ALKAN MELİKOĞLU ,
Mehmet NAYİMOĞLU ,
Kemal NAS ,
Banu SARIFAKIOĞLU ,
İlhan SEZER
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effectivity of Familial Mediterranean Fever Quality of Life (FMF-QoL) Scale for the measurement of QoL in patients with FMF and to perform correlations between related clinical variables in Turkish patients.Patients and methods: This multicenter prospective study performed between December 2017 and November 2018 included 974 FMF patients (334 males, 640 females; median age: 35; range, 26 to 45 years). Sociodemographic characteristics and clinical features were recorded. All participants were asked to complete the FMF-QoL Scale, Short Form-36 (SF-36), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Scale.Results: The median FMF-QoL Scale score was 26. Higher FMF-QoL Scale scores were shown to be related to female sex, illiteracy or primary education, monthly low-income (US$<300), smoking, late-onset FMF (>20 years), a higher number of attacks per month (>1/month), and severe disease. FMF-QoL Scale scores were correlated negatively with subscales of SF-36, and positively with HADS-anxiety and HADS-depression scores, HAQ and FACIT.Conclusion: Female sex, smoking, lower educational status, more severe disease, fatigue, and functional impairment were associated with poor QoL. FMF-QoL Scale was noted as a valid and simple patient-reported outcome instrument and correlated with the SF-36 scale.
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Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effect of a home-based orofacial exercise program on the oral aperture (OA) of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Patients and methods: This single-blind prospective randomized controlled study performed between March 2017 and January 2019 included 56 SSc patients (3 males, 53 females; mean age 52.9±10.6 years; range, 31 to 70 years) with an OA of <40 mm. Patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (n=28, mean age 53.8±9.6 years) was given orofacial exercise program twice a day for one month in addition to oral hygiene care advices, followed by no activity for the next month. Group 2 (n=28, mean age 50.0±11 years) received oral hygiene care advices for the first month followed by the same exercise program for the next month. Patients’ OA was measured at baseline, and at first and second months.Results: After the first month, OA increased in Group 1 (p<0.001), whereas no change was observed in Group 2 (p=0.579). At the end of two months, there was no additional increase in Group 1 (p=0.352), while there was a significant increase in Group 2 (p<0.001). There was no difference between OAs of the groups at the end of the trial (p=0.564).Conclusion: Our results suggest that home-based orofacial exercise program improves OA of SSc patients.
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Objectives: This study aims to compare the efficacy of paraffin bath therapy and fluidotherapy on pain, hand muscle strength, functional status, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA).Patients and methods: This prospective randomized controlled study included 77 patients (8 males, 69 females; mean age: 63.1±10.3 years; range 39 to 88 years) with primary hand OA who applied between July 2017 and March 2018. The patients were randomized into two groups with the sealed envelope method: Paraffin bath therapy (20 min, one session per day, for two weeks) was applied for 36 patients whereas 41 patients received fluidotherapy for the same period. The pain severity of the patients, both at rest and during activities of daily living (ADL) within the last 48 hours was questioned and scored using Visual Analog Scale. Duruöz Hand Index (DHI) was used to evaluate hand functions. Gross grip strength was measured using Jamar dynamometer whereas fine grip strength was measured using pinch meter in three different positions (lateral pinch, tip pinch, and palmar pinch). The 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) was used to analyze the QoL. All measurements were performed before, immediately after, and three months after treatment.Results: Improvement was observed in pain score at rest and during ADL, DHI scores, gross and fine grip strengths, and SF-36 subscores in both groups after treatment. However, no significant difference was observed between the groups.Conclusion: Both fluidotherapy and paraffin bath therapy have been found to have positive effects on pain, hand muscle strength, functional status, and QoL in the treatment of hand OA. However, no superiority was observed between the two treatment modalities.
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Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare foot posture between patient and control groups, and to identify factors associated with foot posture abnormality in knee osteoarthritis (OA).Patients and methods: This case-control study included a total of 115 patients (26 males, 89 females; mean age: 54.4±9.3 years; range, 29 to 73 years) with OA and 77 healthy controls (20 males, 57 females; mean age: 52.1±8.1 years; range, 32 to 69 years) between May 2019 and July 2019. The participants were evaluated using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Beighton criteria. Radiological assessments were performed using the Kellgren-Lawrence grading, condylar plateau angle, and medial tibiofemoral joint width. The Foot Posture Index-6 (FPI-6) was used for foot posture analysis and three groups were formed as supinated, neutral, and pronated postures.Results: Foot posture was significantly different between the patient and control groups (p<0.05). Of the patients with knee OA, significant differences were found in the VAS, WOMAC-pain, WOMAC-physical function, and WOMAC-total (p<0.05) among the foot postures. No significant difference was found among the foot posture groups in terms of the radiological parameters and WOMAC-stiffness (p>0.05). Hypermobility and WOMAC-total scores were significantly associated with foot posture abnormality (p<0.05).Conclusion: Joint hypermobility and foot posture are the factors which may influence the clinical characteristics of knee OA. Foot posture and joint hypermobility should be taken into consideration during the examination and management of patients with knee OA.
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Objectives: In this study, we aimed to identify patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are genetically at risk for developing atherosclerosis.Patients and methods: Between November 2014 and May 2016, a total of 38 patients with SLE (36 females, 2 males; mean age: 37.6 years; range, 18 to 71 years) and 32 healthy females (mean age: 31.5 years; range, 19 to 54 years) were included in the study. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was measured using high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. SurePrint G3 Human Gene Expression 8x60K Microarray kit was used in our study. Genes showing differences in expression between the groups were identified by using GeneSpring GX 10.0 program. Pathway analyses of gene expressions were performed using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA). Gene ontology analyses were performed using the Protein Analysis Through Evolutionary Relationships (PANTHER).Results: Clinical findings of SLE patients were mainly photosensitivity (71.1%), arthritis (63.2%), lupus nephritis (55.3%), thrombocytopenia (26.3%), and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (21.1%). A total of 155 genes showing expression level difference were detected between SLE patients and healthy controls. In molecular network analysis, 28.2% of all genes were found to be directly or indirectly associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.Conclusion: In SLE patients, many genes are expressed differently from healthy individuals. Expression of these genes is important in the pathogenesis of SLE. Genes identified differently in gene expression analysis can help us to identify SLE patients at risk for atherosclerosis in the Turkish population.
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Objectives: This study aims to examine the effects of probiotics on pain hypersensitivity at the end of a six-week intervention program in patients with osteoarthritis (OA)-related pain.Patients and methods: This double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial with two parallel arms will be conducted between January 2021 and July 2022. At least 30 participants (age range, 50 to 90 years) of both sexes with a diagnosis of symptomatic hip or knee (Kellgren-Lawrence scale ≥3) will be recruited in each arm (total n=60) to achieve adequate statistical power in the analyses. The intervention will be administered for six weeks followed by a four-week follow-up period. The experimental group will receive a probiotic product plus the usual medical care. The control group will receive a probiotical sham plus the usual medical care. Assessment points will be measured at baseline, end of intervention, and one-month post-intervention. The outcomes of this intervention will be a change in visual analog scale pain and the gut microbiota composition. Group by time effects will be compared using mixed-model analysis of variance.Conclusion: A reduction in pain hypersensitivity in patients with knee OA-related pain could suggest an involvement of microbiota, or part of it, in chronic pain state mechanisms.
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Objectives: This study aims to investigate large joint damage progression using the assessment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by scoring of large joint destruction and healing in radiographic imaging (ARASHI) score in patients with RA treated with abatacept for three years. Patients and methods: A total of 71 consecutive patients with RA (7 males, 64 females; median age 68 years; range, 41 to 81 years) and joint lesions (141 shoulders, 139 elbows, 141 hips, 134 knees, and 142 ankles) treated with abatacept for three years were examined. Radiographic changes were assessed using the ARASHI score, and factors associated with radiographic progressive damage of large joints were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Results: The three-year radiographic progressive damage rates for the upper and lower limb large joints were 18.3% and 22.5%, respectively. Rates for the shoulder and knee decreased significantly (p=0.025 and 0.039, respectively), whereas rate for the ankle increased significantly (p=0.043). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the baseline ARASHI status score as an independent predictor of progressive damage of upper limb large joints within three years (p=0.004; odds ratio, 1.17). The cutoff value of the ARASHI status score for the upper limb large joints was 4, as determined from the receiver operating characteristics curve. No significant predictors of progressive damage were identified in the lower limb large joints within three years. Conclusion: The greatest suppression of the radiographic progressive damage of large joints was achieved for the shoulders and knees. Meanwhile, ankle damage progressed. Therefore, ankle joint damage should be monitored even in patients treated with abatacept. In the upper limbs, prescribing abatacept to patients with RA depending on their state of upper limb large joint damage may suppress damage progression.
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