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Results. Patients with >5 peripheral affected joints showed significantly more sonographically diagnosed destructive changes in the TMJ than did patients with <5 affected joints. There was no significance between the number of affected peripheral joints and disc dislocation in the closed-mouth position. In the maximum open-mouth position, there was a significant correlation between the number of affected peripheral joints and disc dislocation. Patients with a JIA duration >23 months had a significantly higher rate of disc dislocation and destructive changes. Patients with a JIA duration >60 months had a significantly higher rate of destructive changes of the TMJ than patients with a disease duration <60 months, but no statistical significance was found concerning disc dislocation. Conclusion. The significant correlation between pathologic sonographic findings, duration of JIA, and the number of affected peripheral joints make the technique interesting for use as a diagnostic screening method.

The investigation of human tear film proteins and lipids is of value for the elucidation of contact lens incompatibilities, tear film instabilities, dry eye syndrome and various other eye diseases. Improved efficient methods for the investigation of human tear film proteins and lipids are presented in this paper. Tear proteins were examined by ultrathin sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, celluloacetate gel, isoelectric focusing, and high-performance liquid chromatography. The methods differ in sensitivity, resolution, convenience and reproducibility. Tear lipids were examined by high-performance thin-layer chromatography, and good separation into the major lipid classes was achieved. With this method it is possible to examine the lipids present in tears of an individual subject and not just in pools made up from the tears of several persons.

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In the present study, two established non-medicinal treatment methods are compared with regard to their effect on various psychological pain parameters in patients with fibromyalgia. Twelve patients underwent hydrogalvanic baths, 13 patients the Jacobson relaxation training. Statistical evaluation showed only one significant difference in the different dimensions of pain measured at the beginning and end of the therapy. In comparison with patients receiving Jacobson-therapy, there is a significantly higher decrease in pain intensity in the period from breakfast till lunch in patients receiving bath-therapy. Apart from this, no differences between the two treatment groups could be found, either in the quality of pain, the psychological symptoms accompanying it, in sleep quality or in pain behaviour.

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Objectives: Rehabilitation plays a vital role in the mitigation and improvement of functional limitations associated with aging and chronic conditions. Moderating factors such as sex, age, the medical diagnosis, and rehabilitation timing for admission status, as well as the expected change related to inpatient rehabilitation, are examined to provide a valid basis for the routine assessment of the quality of medical outcomes. Design: An observational study was carried out, placing a focus on general and disease-specific health measurements, to assess representative results of multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation. Aspects that were possibly confounding and introduced bias were controlled based on data from a quasiexperimental (waiting) control group. Measures: Existing data or general health indicators were extracted from medical records. The indicators included blood pressure, resting heart rate, self-assessed health, and pain, as well as more diseasespecific indicators of physical function and performance (eg, activities of daily living, walking tests, blood lipids). These are used to identify moderating factors related to health outcomes. Setting and Participants: A standardized collection of routine data from 16,966 patients [61.5 AE 12.5 years; 7871 (46%) women, 9095 (54%) men] with different medical diagnoses before and after rehabilitation were summarized using a descriptive evaluation in terms of a content and factor analysis. Results: Without rehabilitation, general health indicators did not improve independently and remained stable at best [odds ratio (OR) ¼ 0.74], whereas disease-specific indicators improved noticeably after surgery (OR ¼ 3.20). Inpatient rehabilitation was shown to reduce the risk factors associated with certain lifestyles, optimize organ function, and improve well-being in most patients (>70%; cutoff: z-difference >0.20), with a standardized mean difference (SMD) seen in overall medical quality outcome of À0.48 AE 0.37 [pre-vs postrehabilitation: h p 2 ¼ 0.622; d Cohen ¼ À1.22; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) À1.24 to À1.19]. The baseline medical values obtained at the beginning of rehabilitation were influenced by indication, age, and sex (all P < .001); however, these factors have less significant effects on improvements in general health indicators (h p 2 < 0.01). According to the disease-specific results, the greatest improvements were found in older patients (SMD for patients >60 vs 60 years: 95% CI 0.08e0.11) and during the early rehabilitation stage (h p 2 ¼ 0.063).