Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25738587›Full record

ArticlePloS one2015

Is ultrasound a better target than clinical disease activity scores in rheumatoid arthritis with fibromyalgia? A case-control study.

Rafael Mendonça da Silva Chakr, João Carlos Tavares Brenol, Marina Behar, José Alexandre Mendonça, Charles Lubianca Kohem, Odirlei André Monticielo, Claiton Viegas Brenol, Ricardo Machado Xavier

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Rafael Mendonça da Silva ChakrHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
João Carlos Tavares BrenolHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Marina BeharHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
José Alexandre MendonçaPontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Charles Lubianca KohemHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Odirlei André MonticieloHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Claiton Viegas BrenolHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Ricardo Machado XavierHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul · BRHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre · BRPontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesOur goal is to study the correlations among gray-scale seven-joint ultrasound score (GS-US7), power Doppler seven-joint ultrasound score (PD-US7), disease activity score-28 joints (DAS28), simplified disease activity index (SDAI) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) in patients with and without fibromyalgia (FM).

methodsA matched case-control study included all patients consecutively seen in the Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Clinic. Participants were allocated into one of two groups: RA with FM and RA without FM. Ultrasound (US) and clinical scoring were blinded for the presence of FM. Medians and proportions were compared by Mann-Whitney's test and McNemar's test, respectively. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients (rs) were calculated among clinical and US scores and differences were tested by r-to-z transformation test.

resultsSeventy-two women were included, out of 247 RA patients, mostly white, with median (IQR) age of 57.5 (49.3-66.8) years, with RA symptoms for 13.0 (6.0-19.0) years and FM symptoms for 6.0 (2.0-15.0) years. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and prednisone use was comparable between groups. Objective activity parameters were not different between groups. RA patients with FM had greater DAS28, SDAI and CDAI but similar GS-US7 and PD-US7. GS-US7 correlated with DAS28, SDAI and CDAI in patients with and without FM (rs = 0.36-0.57), while PD-US7 correlated with clinical scores only in patients without FM (rs = 0.35-0.38).

conclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that ultrasound synovitis scores are not affected by FM in RA patients. PD-US7 performed better than GS-US7 in long-standing RA patients with DAS28, SDAI or CDAI allegedly overestimated due to FM. Since sonographic synovitis predicts erosion better than swollen joint count, C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, US should be considered a promising treatment target in RA patients with FM.

Indexed as

AgedArthritis, RheumatoidCase-Control StudiesFemaleFibromyalgiaHumansJointsMiddle AgedUltrasonography

Identifiers

PMID25738587
PMCPMC4349702
OpenAlexW2006277452

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.