Effect of adherence to European treatment recommendations on early arthritis outcome: data from the ESPOIR cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of adherence to the 2007 recommendations of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) for managing early arthritis and radiographic progression and disability in patients METHODS: The authors conducted a prospective population-based cohort study. The ESPOIR cohort was a French cohort of 813 patients with early arthritis not receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Adherence to the 2007 EULAR recommendations was defined by measuring adherence to three of the recommendations concerning the initiation and early adjustment of DMARDs. The study endpoints were radiographic progression, defined as the presence of at least one new erosion between baseline and 1 year, and disability as a heath assessment questionnaire score ≥1 at 2 years. A propensity score of being treated according to the recommendations was developed. RESULTS: After adjustment for propensity score, treatment centre and the main confounding factors, patients without recommendation adherence were at increased risk of radiographic progression at 1 year, and of functional impairment at 2 years (OR 1.98, (95% CI: 1.08 to 3.62 and OR: 2.36, (95% CI: 1.17 to 4.67), respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Early arthritis patients whose treatment adhered to the 2007 EULAR recommendations seemed to benefit from such treatment in terms of risk of clinical and radiographic progression. Using a propensity score of being treated according to recommendations in observational studies may be useful in assessing the potential impact of these recommendations on outcome.

Evaluation of the treatment effect of NSAIDs/TNF blockers according to different domains in ankylosing spondylitis: results of a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the treatment effect of NSAIDs and TNF blockers in AS according to different domains of interest. METHODS: A systematic literature research was performed in electronic databases up to October 2009. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting the efficacy (on pain and/or physical function and/or acute-phase reactants) of NSAIDs/anti-TNF vs placebo in AS were selected. Pooled effect sizes were calculated by meta-analysis, using fixed or random-effect models. RESULTS: Optimal data to calculate the effect size were available in 8 out of the 240 selected RCTs evaluating anti-TNF and 5 of the 135 evaluating NSAIDs. For the domains pain, physical function and patient's global assessment, the treatment effect was large or medium for both TNF blockers and NSAIDs. For the domain acute-phase reactants, the effect of TNF blockers was medium [standardized mean difference (SMD) (95% CI) -0.56 (-0.70, -0.42)], whereas NSAIDs had no significant effect on acute-phase reactants {SMD [95% odds ratio (OR)] -0.09 (-0.34, 0.16)}. Finally for the domain mobility, the effect of both TNF blockers and NSAIDs was small and not significant. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the treatment effect of NSAIDs and anti-TNF are both of relevant magnitude considering the main patient-reported outcomes but with a trend in favour of anti-TNF despite the fact that such drugs are given on top of NSAIDs in refractory patients. Moreover, a statistically significant difference was observed for the domain 'acute-phase reactants' confirming the specificity of such drug category.

Evaluation of physiotherapy in a prospective cohort of early axial spondyloarthritis. Data from the DESIR cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of physiotherapy on functional limitation in an observational cohort of early axial spondyloarthritis. DESIGN: prospective population-based cohort study. PATIENTS: 708 patients with early axial spondyloarthritis between 2007 and 2010 naive of TNF blockers. INTERVENTION: early physiotherapy defined by at least eight supervised sessions of physical therapy during the first six months. MEASUREMENTS: the primary outcome was functional improvement defined by a relative improvement of at least 20% in BASFI at six months. Secondary outcomes were improvement in BASFI at one and two years and ASAS20 response criteria at six months. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: a propensity score of having physiotherapy was developed and multivariate analysis using propensity score weighting were used to assess the effect of physiotherapy on outcome. RESULTS: Overall, 166 (24%) patients had physiotherapy during the first six months. After using propensity score weighting, there was no functional improvement on the primary outcome in patients treated with early physical therapy (relative risk [IC95%]: 1.15 [0.91-1.45]). No differences were observed on secondary outcomes (relative risk [IC95%]: 0.94 [0.80-1.11]). CONCLUSIONS: It seems there is no functional benefit for patients with early spondyloarthritis to be treated early by physiotherapy in daily practice, even though the efficacy of physiotherapy has been shown in several randomized controlled studies.

Patient-preference disability assessment for disabling knee osteoarthritis: Validity and responsiveness of the McMaster-Toronto Arthritis Patient Preference Disability Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: The McMaster-Toronto Arthritis Patient Preference Disability Questionnaire (MACTAR) measurement of function may be more comprehensive and add useful information about disability than traditional fixed-item questionnaires, especially about issues that really matter to the patient, for developing personalized medicine. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess priorities in disability and restriction in participation in patients with disabling knee osteoarthritis (OA) by the MACTAR and evaluate its validity and responsiveness. METHODS: We evaluated 127 in- and outpatients with knee OA in two tertiary care teaching hospitals between August 2010 and July 2012 by using the MACTAR, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, Lequesne scale, Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire, a life satisfaction score and pain, global assessment of disease activity and functional impairment scores on a numerical rating scale. Validity was assessed by Pearson correlation and responsiveness by the standardized response mean (SRM) and effect size (ES). RESULTS: Patients ranked 35 different activities by the MACTAR; the 3 domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health most often identified were mobility (cited 233 times, 52.3%); community, social and civic life (cited 122 times, 27.4%); and domestic life (cited 64 times, 14.4%). The MACTAR score was best correlated with functional impairment (r=0.5). Convergent and divergent validity was as expected. In all, 108 patients completed a 6-month follow-up evaluation: 27 patients shifted their priorities at 6 months, for a decrease in SRM and ES. The SRM (0.64) and ES (0.92) for the MACTAR without shifts in priorities were the highest among the outcome measures tested; for patients considering their condition improved, the values were 0.85 and 1.17, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: For assessing priorities in disability and restriction in participation among patients with knee OA, the MACTAR has acceptable validity and responsiveness.

[Long-term effects of radiation on the spine - Results of a cohort of symptomatic survivors of childhood and review of the literature]. / Effets à long terme de la radiothérapie sur le rachis - Résultats d'une cohorte monocentrique de patients adultes guéris d'un cancer pédiatrique symptomatiques au plan rachidien et revue de la littérature.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present retrospective study was to describe the clinical, radiological and bone characteristics of long-term survivors who have received radiotherapy involving some part of the vertebral column for certain childhood tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Monocentric descriptive study of a cohort of patients followed at Gustave-Roussy in the framework of long-term monitoring treated for a solid tumor in childhood with radiotherapy on part of the spine and having back pain and/or spinal deformity have been addressed in the Service of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation at the Cochin Hospital. For each patient, were performed standardized radiographs of the entire spine and spinal MRI. RESULTS: Eighteen patients were evaluated (average age of 35.4 ± 6.9 years; mean age at radiation therapy: 3.6 ± 2.8 years). Original tumors were nephroblastoma (9 cases), neuroblastoma (4 cases) and medulloblastoma (3 cases). Of the 15 patients analyzed by X-rays of the entire spine, 67% (10/15) patients had scoliosis (2 with a Cobb angle > 20°), 73% (11/15) had an abnormal thoracic kyphosis, 67% (10/15) had abnormal lumbar lordosis. Of the 16 patients analyzed by MRI, 75% (12/16) had discopathies or anomalies of the discal plate, 63% (10/16) had mild abnormalities of bone marrow. Muscle abnormalities were common (81%, 13/16). CONCLUSION: The main risk factors of spinal deformities are intraductal tumor, spinal surgery, spinal radiotherapy and a young age at the time of the cancer. These cured children require dedicated monitoring. Currently, this risk is reduced with the actual techniques of radiotherapy.