Background: Among suggested medications for the treatment of COVID-19, chloroquine derivates and angiotensin-converting– enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) are the two medications with conflicting effects on the development of the disease. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases receiving chloroquine derivate. Methods: Every patient with proven rheumatologic diseases registered in two referral centers in Tehran and Alborz, Iran was enrolled in the present descriptive cross-sectional study between May and June 2020. At first, the symptoms of COVID-19 were assessed, and if a case had suspicious symptoms, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 tests were done. Demographic and clinical data are documented for every patient. Then, the patients were grouped once according to their COVID-19 infection status and another time according to their hydroxychloroquine use. Results: 1159 patients enrolled in the study with a mean age of 49.39 years. Frequency of hypertension was 22.17 %, diabetics (9.49%) and 20 (1.7%) patients were positive for COVID-19 testing. The most common symptoms of the COVID-19 positive cases were cough (5.2%) and fever (4%). There was no significant difference in receiving ACEIs/ARBs or other medications between COVID-19 positive or negative patients. Among the patients receiving hydroxychloroquine, 15 patients (1.7%) had proved COVID-19 versus 5 patients (1.7%) who were not receiving these medications (P>0.999). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that receiving ARBs or ACEIs was not different among patients with or without COVID-19. Moreover, receiving chloroquine derivate was not related to the development of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatologic disorders.
Introduction: The knee is the most affected weight-bearing joint by osteoarthritis. The kinetics parameters are correlated with the progression of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). This study was done to investigate the relationship between kinetics parameters and functional tests with Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) scores in people with moderate KOA.
Materials and Methods: Twenty- three participants with moderate KOA participated in this study. Gait analysis involved the measurement of the external peak knee adduction moment (PKAM), peak knee flexion moment (PKFM), knee adduction moment impulse (KAM impulse), and knee flexion moment impulse (KFM impulse) during level walking. Functional tests included timed up and go (TUG) and figure of eight walkings (FO8W) tests. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to investigate the correlation between kinetics parameters and functional test scores with WOMAC total scores and sub-scores.
Results: There was a significant inverse correlation between the first PKAM and WOMAC total score and pain sub-score (r=-0.43 P=0.03 and r=-0.6 P=0.002, respectively). Also, there was a significant inverse correlation between the second PKAM and pain sub-score (r=-0.46 P=0.02). There was no significant correlation between functional tests and WOMAC scores.
Conclusion: The low score of the WOMAC in the moderate KOA should not be attributed to the low level of joint knee moments.
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