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Objective: To develop system-level performance measures for evaluating the care of patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Methods: This study involved several methodological phases. Over multiple rounds, various participants were asked to help define a set of candidate measurement themes. A systematic search was conducted of existing guidelines and measures. A set of 6 performance measures was defined and presented to 50 people, including patients with IA, rheumatologists, allied health professionals, and researchers using a 3-round, online, modified Delphi process. Participants rated the validity, feasibility, relevance, and likelihood of use of the measures. Measures with median ratings ≥ 7 for validity and relevance were included in the final set.
Results: Six performance measures were developed evaluating the following aspects of care, with each measure being applied separately for each type of IA except where specified: waiting times for rheumatology consultation for patients with new onset IA, percentage of patients with IA seen by a rheumatologist, percentage of patients with IA seen in yearly followup by a rheumatologist, percentage of patients with RA treated with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), time to DMARD therapy in RA, and number of rheumatologists per capita.
Conclusion: The first set of system-level performance measures for IA care in Canada has been developed with broad input. The measures focus on timely access to care and initiation of appropriate treatment for patients with IA, and are likely to be of interest to other arthritis care systems internationally.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.150839 | DOI Listing |
J Appl Clin Med Phys
September 2025
Department of Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Purpose: Real‑time magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) integrates MRI with a linear accelerator (Linac) for gating and adaptive radiotherapy, which requires robust image‑quality assurance over a large field of view (FOV). Specialized phantoms capable of accommodating this extensive FOV are therefore essential. This study compares the performance of four commercial MRI phantoms on a 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Res Ther
September 2025
Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Kirrberger Straße, 66421, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and animal models exhibit an altered gut microbiome that is associated with pathological changes in the brain. Intestinal miRNA enters bacteria and regulates bacterial metabolism and proliferation. This study aimed to investigate whether the manipulation of miRNA could alter the gut microbiome and AD pathologies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Appl Clin Med Phys
September 2025
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Purpose: The development of on-board cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has led to improved target localization and evaluation of patient anatomical change throughout the course of radiation therapy. HyperSight, a newly developed on-board CBCT platform by Varian, has been shown to improve image quality and HU fidelity relative to conventional CBCT. The purpose of this study is to benchmark the dose calculation accuracy of Varian's HyperSight cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) on the Halcyon platform relative to fan-beam CT-based dose calculations and to perform end-to-end testing of HyperSight CBCT-only based treatment planning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluids Barriers CNS
September 2025
Department of Medical Sciences, Neurology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Background: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) predominantly manifests with gait disturbances, yet clinical assessments are vulnerable to confirmation bias, particularly post-shunt surgery. Blinded video evaluations are a method to enhance objectivity in gait assessment, but their reliability has never been systematically investigated. The aim was to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of blinded gait assessments in iNPH patients and to investigate how these assessments correlate with the Hellström iNPH scale and patient-reported health status following shunt surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Health Serv Res
September 2025
Institute of General Practice, Rostock University Medical Center, Doberaner Str. 142, Rostock, 18057, Germany.
Background: Post-viral syndromes, including long- and post-COVID, often lead to persistent symptoms such as fatigue and dyspnoea, affecting patients' daily lives and ability to work. The COVI-Care M-V trial examines whether interprofessional, patient-centred teleconsultations, initiated by general practitioners in cooperation with specialists, can help reduce symptom burden and improve care for patients.
Methods: To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention under routine care conditions, a cluster-randomised controlled trial is being conducted.