Diagnosis of children's arthritis to be speeded up by Newcastle researchers
Children with arthritis will be diagnosed more quickly, thanks to new research at the University of Newcastle aimed at helping doctors to examine their joints more effectively.
Childhood arthritis affects around 12,000 children and teenagers in the UK, but often there are long delays in diagnosing the condition, partly because doctors are not taught to examine children's joints during training at medical school.
Now Dr Helen Foster, a leading paediatric rheumatologist at the University of Newcastle has been awarded funding of more than £120,000 from the Arthritis Research Campaign to develop, with colleagues, a standardised musculoskeletal examination of children, which can be used by doctors around the country.
"Delay in diagnosing arthritis in children can mean that youngsters don't get the treatment they need when they need it," explained Dr Foster, who runs a clinic for children and teenagers with arthritis at the Royal Victoria Hospital and is an arc senior lecturer in paediatric rheumatology.
"Although being competent in examining the musculoskeletal system is an essential skill for assessing children to find out what's wrong with them, medical students are not routinely taught how to do this at medical school.
"Nor is there any agreement about which examinations skills are required for doctors who see children with joint complaints either at a GP surgery or in hospital. Many doctors lack confidence about how to examine children's joints, and we want to do something about it. It can be difficult to diagnose children with joint pain because if they are very young they can't explain what is wrong with them, and being able to examine them effectively is very important. "
The team plan to consult other paediatric rheumatology teams in the UK and include experts such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, GPs and orthopaedic surgeons to carry out research to find out more about current practice, before producing a "gold standard" method of musculoskeletal examination that can be widely used.
Dr Foster also hopes the research will help to raise the profile of paediatric rheumatology in medial schools and lead to better training for medical students in childhood arthritis among doctors of the future.
For more information email info@arc.org.uk.
