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Association between characteristics of pain and stiffness and the functional status of patients with incident polymyalgia rheumatica from primary care

Cawley, A.; Prior, James; Muller, Sara; Helliwell, Toby; Hider, Samantha; Dasgupta, B.; Barraclough, K.; Mallen, Christian

Association between characteristics of pain and stiffness and the functional status of patients with incident polymyalgia rheumatica from primary care Thumbnail


Authors

A. Cawley

B. Dasgupta

K. Barraclough



Abstract

This paper aims to examine the relationship between different characteristics of pain and stiffness and the functional status of patients with newly diagnosed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Baseline analysis of an inception cohort study was conducted. Patients aged =18 years, with a new diagnosis of PMR were recruited from 382 English general practices. Participants were mailed a baseline questionnaire, including separate pain and stiffness manikins and numerical rating scales (NRS), a question on their ability to raise their arms above their head and the modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (mHAQ) to examine participants' functional status. Linear regression analysis, reported as regression co-efficients (95% confidence intervals (95% CI)), was used to assess the association of pain and stiffness with function, initially unadjusted and then adjusted for age, gender, deprivation status, smoking status, BMI, anxiety and depression. Six hundred fifty two patients responded to the baseline survey (88.5%). The majority (88.2%) reported no, or mild impairment in their functional status. Adjusted linear regression analysis demonstrated that high (NRS =8) pain (0.20 (95% CI 0.10-0.28)) or stiffness (0.18 (0.09-0.26)) ratings, an increasing number of sites of pain (0.18 (0.06-0.29)) or stiffness (0.19 (0.08-0.31)) and shoulder pain (0.18 (0.05-0.31)), stiffness (0.10 (0.01-0.20)) and difficulty raising arms above one's head (0.19 (0.10-0.28)) were all associated with increased functional impairment. The majority of newly diagnosed PMR patients reported no or minimal functional difficulty. However, those who experience severe or widespread pain or stiffness often have significant functional limitation in performing their daily activities and may be a subset worthy of additional focus in primary care.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 7, 2017
Online Publication Date Jun 20, 2017
Publication Date 2017-06
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Clinical Rheumatology
Print ISSN 0770-3198
Electronic ISSN 1434-9949
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 37
Issue 6
Pages 1639-1644
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-017-3730-6
Keywords cohort; function; mHAQ; Modified health assessment questionnaire; Polymyalgia Rheumatica; Primary Care
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-017-3730-6

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