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Self‐Reported Pain and Disease Symptoms Persist in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Despite Treatment Advances: An Electronic Diary Study
Author(s) -
Bromberg Maggie H.,
Connelly Mark,
Anthony Kelly K.,
Gil Karen M.,
Schanberg Laura E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
arthritis and rheumatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.106
H-Index - 314
eISSN - 2326-5205
pISSN - 2326-5191
DOI - 10.1002/art.38223
Subject(s) - medicine , visual analogue scale , physical therapy , intensity (physics) , arthritis , disease , physics , quantum mechanics
Objective To use electronic diaries (e‐diaries) to determine whether pain, stiffness, and fatigue continue to be common, disabling symptoms in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) despite the use of aggressive treatments in contemporary medical management. Methods Fifty‐nine children with JIA (ages 8–18 years) provided ratings of pain, stiffness, and fatigue intensity and functional limitations using a smartphone e‐diary 3 times each day for 1 month. Medication information was collected via parent report and checked for accuracy by chart review. Descriptive analyses were conducted to determine typical symptom intensity, frequency, and variability. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze associations between symptoms and functional outcomes and between medication use and symptom intensity. Results Children reported moments of pain in 66% of e‐diary entries. No children were entirely pain‐free across the reporting period. In 31% of all e‐diary entries the visual analog scale score for pain was >40 (high pain intensity), with 86% of children reporting a high level of pain at least once during the study period. The mean ratings of pain, stiffness, and fatigue intensity were in the mild‐to‐moderate range. Medication class was not a reliable predictor of differences in symptom intensity, even though 79% of children were prescribed a disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug and 47% were prescribed a biologic agent. Moments of higher pain intensity and higher stiffness intensity were each uniquely predictive of higher concurrent functional limitations. Conclusion Self‐reported pain, stiffness, and fatigue continue to be common in children with JIA, despite contemporary advances in treatment strategies, including use of biologic agents. These findings are surprisingly consistent with previous results from research using daily paper diaries in the pre‐biologics era. There remains a pressing and ongoing need to optimize pain and symptom management in JIA.