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O29. The Effectiveness and Efficacy of Splints for Thumb Base Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

2014; Oxford University Press; Volume: 53; Issue: suppl_1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/rheumatology/keu090.005

1462-0332

Jo Adams, Sofia Barbosa Bouças, Kelly Hislop, Krysia Dziedzic, Nigel Arden, Carol A. Graham, Helen McKenna, Victoria Jansen, Becky Shaylor, Christina Macleod, Kirsty Bancroft, Sarah Bradley,

Medical and Biological Sciences

independently.For some stiffness was a significant symptom in early disease (stiffness was absolutely integral to the definition of the disease at that time).Part of my behaviour and environment: Movement was a key influence, and related to immobility (you are stiff after being laid in bed) and over-activity (if I have had like a busy day, and I haven't been able to rest then I might find that it is creeping back in the evening).Patients also highlighted medications, weather and diet.Located within my body: Stiffness was a bodily experience that affected the joints (there is actual joint stiffness).Location varied and was reported by some as more widespread during the morning or during a flare (it affects more joints than it does when I'm not so bad).Having consequences: Patients defined stiffness by impact on a range of domains including physical function (I could not get my fingers to pick up this blooming stupid screw), quality of life and wellbeing.Needing to be managed: Patients managed stiffness using movement, heat and cold, medications, gadgets, and behavioural strategies.Variable: Stiffness varied within and between patients and was compounded by the fluctuating nature of RA e.g.stiffness during a flare was an exaggeration of itself.Additionally, there was temporal variability (on a good day it is really just morning and evening).Conclusion: Patients' experiences of stiffness were varied, complex and not fully captured by severity and duration.Future research directions include using these findings to develop a more patient oriented measure of stiffness which might evaluate different dimensions of the symptom.