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Objective: Despite advances in the treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Rheumatic Disease (CIRD), pain remains a significant burden for patients and doctors. This study explored the prevalence and associated factors of central sensitization (CS) in patients with CIRD., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included patients with CIRD followed at the University Hospital Center in Tangier. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected. Nociceptive pain was assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), disease activity by DAS-28 and ASDAS, and CS by the validated Moroccan version of the Central Sensitization Inventory part A (CSI-A). The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) was used to assess pain-related catastrophic thoughts, and the PHQ-9 (Pain Health Questionnaire) was used to determine the severity of depressive symptoms., Results: We included 189 patients; 107 (56.61%) had rheumatoid arthritis. The median duration of evolution of CIRD was 8 years, and the mean age was 47.49 ± 13.70 years, and 75.7% were women. The mean pain VAS was 4.77+-2.76, and 37.6% of patients were in remission. The mean central sensitization score was 37.42+- 16.75, with 44.9% having a CSI score≥40. In univariate and multivariate analysis, our study showed that central sensitization is associated with pain severity (β = 1.945(0.050-1.916), p = 0.039) and depression (β = 1.790(1.221-2.154), p ≤0.001)(8). A statistically significant correlation was found between the CSI-A score and pain VAS (r = 0.32, p <0.001)., Conclusion: Our study showed that almost half of our patients with CIRD had CS. The main factors associated with CS in our patients were pain severity and depression. We also found a significant correlation between pain VAS and CSI., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Introduction: Generally, patients with chronic rheumatic diseases use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in addition to their conventional treatments to manage their health. Discussing these treatments with their physician is still rare, which might be directly related to patients' trust toward them., Aim: The primary objective of this study was to assess the association between patients' trust in their physician and the use of complementary and alternative medicine among patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases. As secondary objectives, to estimate the prevalence of CAM use, and to identify the associated factors with their use and with trust in physicians., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, which included patients with established chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases, at the University Hospital Center in Tangier. The questionnaire included demographic and clinical information, use of conventional therapy, complementary and alternative therapy, as well as interpersonal trust in patient-physician relationships using the Trust in Physician Scale (TPS). A regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with CAM use and with trust in physicians., Results: The study included 189 patients. 57.14% of patients reported using complementary medicine at least once, most patients were women (77.78%), mean age was 46.67 ± 13.25 years with an average course of the disease of 11.11 ± 9.23 years. The most frequently used CAM treatments were cupping therapy, massage and the ingestion of a mixture of plants. Mean ± SD Trust in Physician Scale was 47.64 ± 7.2. There was no significant difference between CAM users vs. non-users (48.08 ± 6.9 vs 47.04 ± 7.4; p = 0.35). In uni and multivariate analysis, a low level of education was significantly associated with the use of CAM. However, no statistically significant difference was found with trust in physicians (OR = 1.020, 95% CI (0.978-1.063), p = 0.354)., Conclusion: CAM therapy is common in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases. No statistically significant association was found with trust in physicians, it was rather observed with level of education., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)