Quality of life of subjects with chronic musculoskeletal diseases

Summary:

he goal of this research project is to analyze illness perceptions, coping and limitations in daily life of subjects with chronic musceloskeletal diseases. And to analyze psychometric properties of the instruments used to measure these aspects of health related quality of life. And to study the effect of multidisciplinary treatment programs in subjects with chronic musculoskeletal diseases.

This large research project is divided in multiple parts. First, illness perceptions of patients with fibromyalgia will be studied using the Illness Perception Questionnaire. In this part, also some psychometric properties of the questionnaire will be analyzed. Next, two-day reproducibility and test-retest reliability of a Functional Capacity Evaluation in subjects with osteoarthritis of hip and / or knee will be studied. Interobserver reliability of a measurement instrument for pain in patients with fibromyalgia will be addressed. Finally, two effect studies will be performed. One analyzes the effect of a multidisciplinary treatment program for subjects with osteoarthritis of hip and / or knee. The second study analyzes the effect of a comparable treatment program for subjects with fibromyalgia.