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P Croft

Publications and source records attributed to P Croft.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Back pain.

Classification of back pain is a difficult task. Traditional schemes have focused on the small percentage of cases which have specific causes. Structural anomalies observed on X-ray examination explain only a small proportion of back pain cases, and the emphasis placed on these in the traditional schemes is, as Anderson put it, the tail wagging the dog (Anderson, 1977). Many syndrome classifications are based on arbitrary notions of cause, with little empirical justification and no evidence that they can reliably and usefully be applied in practice. More pragmatic approaches start with the separation of the serious from the less serious, and the distinction between spinal pain and pain arising from outside the spine. The classification of the large majority of back pain cases which are 'non-specific' is best approached by grading the severity of the clinical and psychological features of back pain and their disabling consequences. Such grading schemes also provide the most appropriate outcome measures for clinical and epidemiological back pain research.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1995

Fibromyalgia.

The article details the history, concept, definition and assessment of the still enigmatic condition of 'fibrositis' or, as it has more recently been called, 'fibromyalgia'. The concept and diagnosis became popular, especially in North America, in the 1970s, after the seminal publications of Hugh Smythe (1972) and Smythe and Moldofsky (1977). It is noticeable that there does not appear to be an early case report as there is for instance for gout, rheumatoid arthritis or certain vasculitides. This may be one reason why we still lack a commonly shared clinical image of the 'typical' case. After Smythe and coworkers, operational definitions and classification criteria were given by Yunus et al, Lautenschläger et al (both in 1989) and Wolfe et al in 1990. The latter received the endorsement of the American College of Rheumatology and are now the most widely used. They identify fibromyalgia as a musculoskeletal disorder with spontaneous widespread pain and exaggerated tenderness as prominent and distinctive features. The other two criteria sets refer to a different concept of fibromyalgia as a 'functional' or 'dysfunctional' disorder. These and other nosological differences pose problems for clinical as well as epidemiological research. They may be of minor importance if it is accepted that any present definition is arbitrary and that a wide range of possible elements are more relevant to research than a uniform concept of a disease called fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia↗
PubMed1995

Rheumatology education and management skills in general practice: a national study of trainees.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate current rheumatology education and skills during vocational training in general practice. METHODS: A postal questionnaire survey was sent to all general practice trainees who were in United Kingdom training practices in June 1992. A second survey was made of general practice trainers in the UK. RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned by 1624 trainees, representing 70% of all trainees known to be in a training practice on 1 April 1992. Of the 1075 responders who were at the end of their trainee year, 35% had not received any tutorials on rheumatological topics with their trainer, and only 43% had experienced specific rheumatology teaching on local day release courses. Although 84% of these trainees had injected or aspirated the knee, fewer than 40% had acquired shoulder injection skills. Lack of experience was matched by low reported confidence. Trainees rated the amount of their rheumatology education as inadequate. Nine hundred trainers returned questionnaires--a response rate of 33%. Their estimate of the amount of local training provided was similar to that among the trainees, but this sample of trainers reported a higher level of practical teaching than the trainees indicated they had received. CONCLUSIONS: Rheumatology education during vocational training needs to be improved, particularly the component provided by trainers and local day release courses. This process might be facilitated by the development of a standard rheumatology curriculum which could be incorporated into all training schemes.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1994

Population study of tender point counts and pain as evidence of fibromyalgia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relation between tender points, complaints of pain, and symptoms of depression, fatigue, and sleep quality in the general population. DESIGN: Two stage cross sectional study with an initial questionnaire about pain to classify those eligible for an examination of tender points. SETTING: Two general practices in north west England. SUBJECTS: Stratified random sample of adults from age-sex registers. Of the responders, 250 were selected for examination of tender points on the basis of their reported pain complaints; 177 subsequently participated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Tender point count (0 to 18) grouped into four categories with the highest (> or = 11) corresponding to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology for fibromyalgia. Assessment of pain (chronic widespread, regional, none). Measures of depression, fatigue, and difficulty with sleeping. RESULTS: Women had a higher median tender point count (six) than did men (three). Counts were higher in those with pain than in those who had no pain and in those with widespread compared with regional pain. Most subjects with chronic widespread pain, however, had fewer than 11 tender points (27/45; 60%). Two people with counts of 11 or more were in the group reporting no pain. Mean symptom scores for depression, fatigue, and sleep problems increased as the tender point count rose (P value for trend < 0.001). These trends were independent of pain complaints. CONCLUSIONS: Tender points are a measure of general distress. They are related to pain complaints but are separately associated with fatigue and depression. Sleep problems are associated with tender points, although prospective studies are needed to determine whether they cause tenderness to develop. Fibromyalgia does not seem to be a distinct disease entity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Interpreting the results of observational research: chance is not such a fine thing.

In a randomised controlled trial, if the design is not flawed, different outcomes in the study groups must be due to the intervention itself or to chance imbalances between the groups. Because of this tests of statistical significance are used to assess the validity of results from randomised studies. Most published papers in medical research, however, describe observational studies which do not include randomised intervention. This paper argues that the continuing application of tests of significance to such non-randomised investigations is inappropriate. It draws a distinction between bias and chance imbalance on the one hand (both randomised and observational studies can be affected) and confounding on the other (a unique problem for observational investigations). It concludes that neither the P value nor the 95% confidence interval should be used as evidence for the validity of an observational result.

Bias↗
PubMed1994

Observer variability in measuring elevation and external rotation of the shoulder. Primary Care Rheumatology Society Shoulder Study Group.

The aim of the study was to assess the observer variation between trained primary care physicians in their assessment of two key shoulder movements: elevation and external rotation. Six observers each examined and recorded their visual estimate of the range of movements in six patients assessed in random order. There was good agreement on the range of passive elevation assessed to the start of pain (if present): intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.84, and to the point of maximum elevation: ICC = 0.95. There was no evidence of an important systematic bias between observers. By contrast, external rotation was poorly reproducible: ICC = 0.43, with important systematic differences between observers. In the second experiment, six observers simultaneously witnessed a range of movements in a single volunteer subject, and the agreement on their visual estimation of the angles achieved was assessed. There was a marked reduction in the systematic bias in external rotation, but agreement was still poor. Agreement for elevation remained high with a reduction in the small amount of bias observed in the first experiment when variability in both examination and visual assessment had been investigated. We conclude that shoulder elevation is a reliable measurement for use in multicentre studies by trained primary care physicians. By contrast, external rotation is poorly reproducible because of systematic variation in examination technique and random variation in visual assessment.

Female↗
PubMed1994

Measurement of shoulder related disability: results of a validation study.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a questionnaire to quantify disability associated with shoulder symptoms. METHODS: A set of questions relevant to shoulder symptoms from a general disability interview was developed and the questionnaire applied to a cross-sectional population survey and a prospective study of general practice attenders. Subjects included adults who reported current shoulder pain in a population survey and patients from three general practices who attended with shoulder symptoms during a six month period. The main outcome measures were: frequency of problems with daily living related to shoulder symptoms, total score on 22-item disability questionnaire, and measures of shoulder movement. RESULTS: A higher proportion (80%) of patients attending their general practitioner with shoulder symptoms had five or more disabilities compared with subjects reporting shoulder pain in a community survey (34%). The ranked frequency with which each disability was reported was similar in the two groups, although sleep disturbance was the most common problem in consulters. Self-reported disability is correlated with measures of restricted shoulder movement. CONCLUSION: This disability questionnaire was simple to complete and should prove useful for both general practice and population-based studies of shoulder pain.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

Osteoarthritis of the hip: an occupational disease in farmers.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that farmers are at high risk of hip osteoarthritis and to investigate possible causes for such a hazard. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTING: Five rural general practices. SUBJECTS: 167 male farmers aged 60-76 and 83 controls from mainly sedentary jobs. All those without previous hip replacement underwent radiography of the hip. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hip replacement for osteoarthritis or radiological evidence of hip osteoarthritis. RESULTS: Prevalence of hip osteoarthritis was higher in farmers than controls and especially in those who had farmed for over 10 years (odds ratio 9.3, 95% confidence interval 1.9 to 44.5). The excess could not be attributed to any one type of farming, and heavy lifting seems the likely explanation. CONCLUSIONS: Manual handling in agriculture should be limited where possible. Consideration should be given to making hip osteoarthritis a prescribed industrial disease in farmers. There may be wider implications for the prevention of hip osteoarthritis in the general population.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Is the hip involved in generalized osteoarthritis?

The authors examined the association of hip osteoarthritis with the presence of Heberden's nodes in a case-control study. Subjects were men aged 60-75 years who had undergone intravenous urography as out-patients. An examination of the hands was carried out in 240 patients who had a hip replacement for osteoarthritis or a joint space less than or equal to 2.5 mm, and in 290 controls whose joint space was greater than or equal to 3.5 mm in both hips. The presence of Heberden's nodes was associated with an increased risk of radiological hip osteoarthritis, the relationship being stronger in the 51 cases with severe joint-space narrowing (odds ratio = 3.4, 95% confidence interval 1.3-9.1). There was no evidence that this association differed according to the site of joint space narrowing within the hip. The finding provides further evidence that osteoarthritis of the hip can occur as part of a generalized process and does not only result from local damage to the joints.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Osteoarthritis of the hip and occupational activity.

This case-referent study investigated the relation between hip osteoarthritis and occupational activity. The subjects were 60- to 75-year-old men who had undergone intravenous urography. Interviews were obtained for 245 cases who had a hip replacement for osteoarthritis or a joint space of less than or equal to 2.5 mm and 294 referents whose joint space was greater than or equal to 3.5 mm in both hips. No clear associations were found in an analysis of all the cases, but severe disease (hip replacement for osteoarthritis or a joint space of less than or equal to 1.5 mm) was more common in the farmers, especially in those with greater than or equal to 10 years in agricultural work [odds ratio (OR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.9-4.4]. Severe disease was also associated with prolonged standing at work (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.0-7.3) and heavy lifting (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.7). These associations could not be explained by obesity or sporting activity. The findings suggest an increased risk of degenerative hip disease for farmers and indicate that mechanical overloading may contribute to its pathogenesis.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Osteoarthritis of the hip and acetabular dysplasia.

The relation between acetabular dysplasia and osteoarthritis of the hip was examined in a series of 1516 pelvic radiographs taken for non-skeletal indications. Osteoarthritis was assessed by measuring joint space, and dysplasia by the centre-edge angle and acetabular depth. In contrast with previous studies of patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the hip, no evidence that dysplasia predisposes to osteoarthritis was found. Possible reasons for the discrepancy are discussed. It was concluded that although acetabular dysplasia may lead to osteoarthritis of the hip in some subjects, it is unlikely to be an important cause of the disease in men.

Acetabulum↗
PubMed1990

Defining osteoarthritis of the hip for epidemiologic studies.

The authors compared seven radiologic indices of hip osteoarthritis to establish which provided the best definition of the disease for epidemiologic purposes. Hip joints were assessed from intravenous urograms taken in a British hospital between 1982 and 1987 in 1,315 men aged 60-75 years. The indices examined were an overall qualitative grading of osteoarthritis, four measures of joint space, the maximum thickness of subchondral sclerosis, and the size of the largest osteophyte. Minimal joint space (i.e., the shortest distance between the femoral head margin and the acetabulum) was the index most strongly associated with other radiologic features of osteoarthritis. Among a subset of 759 men who answered a questionnaire about symptoms, the overall qualitative grading, minimal joint space, and thickness of subchondral sclerosis were the radiologic indices most predictive of hip pain. Within- and between-observer repeatability were tested in a subset of 50 subjects. Measures of joint space were more reproducible than other indices. These data suggest that, at least in men, minimal joint space is the best radiologic criterion of hip osteoarthritis for use in epidemiologic studies.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Risk factors for acute myocardial infarction in women: evidence from the Royal College of General Practitioners' oral contraception study.

To determine the pattern of risk factors for acute myocardial infarction associated solely with women a nested case-control study was carried out on cohort data collected during the Royal College of General Practitioners' oral contraception study. Smoking (adjusted relative risk 1.7 for light smokers and 4.3 for heavy smokers), hypertension (2.4), toxaemia of pregnancy (2.8), and diabetes mellitus (6.9) were associated with a significantly increased risk of myocardial infarction. There was no significant trend of risk with social class. Current use of the pill increased the risk only among women who also smoked (relative risk 20.8 for heavy smokers). Previous use of the pill did not influence the risk of myocardial infarction. If heavy smokers also had a history of toxaemia of pregnancy their risk of myocardial infarction was further increased (relative risk 41.0). Other variables associated solely with women, such as parity, hysterectomy, and hormone replacement therapy, had little effect on the risk of having a myocardial infarction. Overall, smoking was the most important independent risk factor and had a strong influence on risks associated with other factors.

Adult↗