Often those with rheumatological disease develop back pain, a very painful symptom with a devastating impact on the quality of life. 39% of patients claim to have it even after rest, for seven out of ten the pain developed gradually over time, 54% suffer from morning stiffness for over 30 minutes, for 85% back pain improves with l use of drugs. The data comes from a survey conducted by family doctors as part of the project “(Re) know my back pain”, promoted by ANMAR ONLUS (National Association of Rheumatic Patients) together with the FIMMG – Italian Federation of General Practitioners, and realized thanks to the unconditional support of Novartis Italia. Monitoring of the back pain symptom can improve the quality of life of the rheumatologic patient but also favor an early diagnosis. This is the rationale for the association’s initiative which in this first pilot phase involved over 30% of general practitioners in Veneto and Campania who for 4 months administered a specific questionnaire to their patients who complained of “generic back pain” created by the scientific committee of ANMAR thanks to an easy-to-use application. “With this initiative, we asked for an effort to help us design a virtuous path that can improve the timeliness of diagnosis of the main rheumatic diseases, anticipating the patient’s care by the specialist, but also the management of the disease in its chronicity”, explains Silvia Tonolo, president of ANMAR.
Specifically, we thought about the realization of an awareness and screening project that allows to measure the impact of a shared communication activity among the main stakeholders that revolve around people affected by ankylosing spondylitis on predefined areas. “The possibility of taking advantage of innovative tools for detecting contextual symptoms at the time of comparison and visit of our patients allows general practitioners to effectively intercept clinical cases that otherwise could be identified in an evolved phase of the disease”, he commented. Domenico Crisarà – National Deputy Secretary of the FIMMG.
“To reach effective levels of preliminary assessments that suggest specialist assessments, it is necessary that the technological solutions are increasingly integrated with the management and care pathways of the GP, considerably simplifying the bureaucratic activity and supporting the clinical activity towards the patient” he says Silvestro Scotti – National Secretary General of the FIMMG. “We applaud the initiative promoted by ANMAR – concludes prof. Roberto Gerli, National President of the Italian Society of Rheumatology (SIR) -. The role of the family doctor is also fundamental in the rheumatology field and collaboration must also be strengthened by making use of the opportunities offered by new technologies “.