Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Rheumatology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Rheumatology

Joint Protection Programs For People With Hand Arthritis, Pavlos Bobos Oct 2020

Joint Protection Programs For People With Hand Arthritis, Pavlos Bobos

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The fact that Joint Protection Programs (JPP) can reduce pain and improve function is based on small, but definitive Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), conducted in the 1980s. However, changes over time in the nature of hand use, the rapid expansion of technology, and improvements in our understanding of health literacy mean that these programs are now outdated. Further, problems with adherence to JPP are well documented. The purpose of this thesis was 1) to conduct a scoping review to map all the available evidence around joint protection programs in published and unpublished studies 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of joint …


Viral Etiology Of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fatima Kudaeva Aug 2018

Viral Etiology Of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fatima Kudaeva

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Viruses can trigger rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or inflammatory arthritis (IA). Our study provides insight into etiology of RA/IA. We analyzed the evidence relating to the risk of RA after viral infections; estimated the distribution of IA onsets over time; quantified the effect of influenza on the risk of IA.

Results of systematic review and meta-analysis showed that the risk of RA/IA is increased after parvovirus B19 and chikungunya virus. There seems to be a risk of RA after chronic hepatitis C (HCV), but whether it is a true RA or HCV-associated arthritis is not clear.

We estimated the distribution of …


Methotrexate And Cardiovascular Events, Alpesh Shah Apr 2015

Methotrexate And Cardiovascular Events, Alpesh Shah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association of MTX with cardiovascular morbidity, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality in patients with autoimmune disease. Our primary outcome was incident cardiovascular events. After screening 13,479 citations, we identified a total of 30 eligible studies. We synthesized adjusted risk estimates using a random effects model. MTX was significantly associated with a 25% reduction in cardiovascular events (pooled RR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.65, 0.86, I2: 11%), a 55% reduction in cardiovascular mortality (0.45, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.80, I2: 33%) and a 40% reduction in all-cause mortality (0.60, …