Generalised musculoskeletal problems

The last decades have witnessed enormous progress in understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of rheumatic diseases. Based on these findings new paradigms in the treatment of many rheumatic diseases could be established leading to an improvement in the outcome of rheumatic diseases that was not conceivable at the end of the last century. However, in recent years many studies revealed a gap between the perceived (and measured) disease activity and various other parameters best summarized as patient reported outcomes (PRO). The PRO such as pain, fatigue, sleep quality and quality of life are getting more attention since regulatory agencies, e.g. FDA as well as EMA, require PRO to be included in clinical studies for approval of new treatments