ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Rheumatic diseases are a reason for frequent consultation with primary care doctors. Unfortunately, there is a high percentage of misdiagnosis. OBJECTIVE: To design an algorithm to be used by primary care physicians to improve the diagnostic approach of the patient with joint pain, and thus improve the diagnostic capacity in four rheumatic diseases. METHODS: Based on the information obtained from a literature review, we identified the main symptoms, signs, and paraclinical tests related to the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis with peripheral involvement, systemic lupus erythematosus with joint involvement, and osteoarthritis. We conducted 3 consultations with a group of expert rheumatologists, using the Delphi technique, to design a diagnostic algorithm that has as a starting point "joint pain" as a common symptom for the four diseases. RESULTS: Thirty-nine rheumatologists from 18 countries of Ibero-America participated in the Delphi exercise. In the first consultation, we presented 94 items to the experts (35 symptoms, 31 signs, and 28 paraclinical tests) candidates to be part of the algorithm; 74 items (25 symptoms, 27 signs, and 22 paraclinical tests) were chosen. In the second consultation, the decision nodes of the algorithm were chosen, and in the third, its final structure was defined. The Delphi exercise lasted 8 months; 100% of the experts participated in the three consultations. CONCLUSION: We present an algorithm designed through an international consensus of experts, in which Delphi methodology was used, to support primary care physicians in the clinical approach to patients with joint pain. Key Points ⢠We developed an algorithm with the participation of rheumatologists from 18 countries of Ibero-America, which gives a global vision of the clinical context of the patient with joint pain. ⢠We integrated four rheumatic diseases into one tool with one common symptom: joint pain. It is a novel tool, as it is the first algorithm that will support the primary care physician in the consideration of four different rheumatic diseases. ⢠It will improve the correct diagnosis and reduce the number of paraclinical tests requested by primary care physicians, in the management of patients with joint pain. This point was verified in a recently published study in the journal Rheumatology International (reference number 31).
Subject(s)
Rheumatic Diseases , Rheumatology , Algorithms , Arthralgia/diagnosis , Humans , Rheumatic Diseases/complications , Rheumatic Diseases/diagnosis , RheumatologistsABSTRACT
Introducción. Las estadísticas de morbi-mortalidad del departamento de Caldas(Colombia) muestran el infarto de miocardio en los primeros lugares, por ello surge el interés de investigar el grado de conocimiento en la interpretación del patrón electrocardiográfico en los estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad de Manizales. Materiales y Métodos. Un estudio descriptivo correlacional, en el cual se evalúa el conocimiento del patrón electrocardiográfico en 99 estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad de Manizales. Se diseñó un cuestionario para evaluar el conocimiento del patrón electrocardiográfico que consta de preguntas de selección múltiple con única respuesta, preguntas falso-verdadero y una evaluación práctica. Resultados. Se observa que los semestres noveno y décimo muestran una calificación promedio significativamente mayor que octavo; y una tendencia a que los estudiantes con promedios más altos logren mejores puntuaciones en el cuestionario. La calificación promedio fue de 1,82. No se encontraron otras diferencias significativas. Conclusiones. Se recomienda implementar estrategias de educación continuada o actualizaciones periódicas que garanticen la adecuada retención del conocimiento. La mayoría de los estudiantes incluidos en el estudio consideran que el método de enseñanza es inadecuado, aunque se reconoce la clase de electrocardiografía interesante, recomiendan mejorar la metodología. La principal falencia identificada es la falta de práctica clínica electrocardiográfica. Los casos clínicos y pacientes virtuales podrían ser la estrategias que motiven al estudiante y satisfaga el enfoque teórico practico que se reclama.
