Objectives Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative musculoskeletal disease that causes articular damage and chronic pain, with a prevalence of up to 50% in individuals >60 years of age. Patients suffering from chronic painful conditions, including OA, also frequently report anxiety or depression. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to assess the correlation between pain severity and depressive and anxious symptomatology in OA patients. Methods A systematic search was conducted using four databases (PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science) from inception up to 14th January of 2020. We included original articles evaluating pain severity and anxiety and/or depression severity in OA-diagnosed patients. Detailed data were extracted from each study, including patients’ characteristics and pain, anxiety, and depression severity. When available, the Pearson correlation coefficient between pain and depression severity and pain and anxiety severity was collected and a meta-analysis of random effects was applied. Results This systematic review included 121 studies, with a total of 38085 participants. The mean age was 64.3 years old and subjects were predominantly female (63%). The most used scale to evaluate pain severity was the Western Ontario and the McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, while for anxiety and depression, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was the most used. The meta-analysis showed a moderate positive correlation between pain severity and both anxious (r = 0.31, p < 0.001) and depressive symptomatology (r = 0.36, p < 0.001). Conclusions Our results demonstrate a significant correlation between pain and depression/anxiety severity in OA patients, highlighting the need for its routine evaluation by clinicians.
In elderly patients, numerous factors subsidize the diagnostic challenge and high incidence of complications in this specific population, taking gangrenous cholecystitis as a critical example. The aim of this work is to report an unusual case of gangrenous choleystitis in an elderly diabetic women and its atypical clinical presentation. A 79-year-old female patient came to our observation; her medical history showed nausea and vomiting of about 2 hours which rapidly ended with symptomatic therapy, without recurrence, and a 3-week history of intermittent fever associated with productive cough. No abdominal discomfort was declared. Physical examination of the abdomen was negative. Laboratory analysis revealed leukocytosis with the remaining criteria within the normal range. After 2 days, she started with a mildabdominal pain in the epigastric region that rapidly progressed to the right upper quadrant, right flank and right iliac fossa, without nausea, vomiting or fever. Abdominal computer tomography findings revealed thickness of the gall-bladder and important densification of the vascular bed. Acute cholecystitis was diagnosed. The patient was then submitted to a laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia with findings suggestive of gangrenous acute cholecystitis confirmed by histologic examination of the specimen. Delays in diagnosing acute cholecystitis in specific populations, such as elderly diabetics, result in a higher prevalence of morbidity and mortality due to potentially serious complications as gangrenous cholecystitis. Consequently, the diagnosis should be measured and investigated promptly in order to prevent poor outcomes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.