Best Research Poster

Title of paper: Foot-Related Impairments and Disability in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Persist Despite Modern-Day Treatment Paradigms Summary This study was a cross-section survey of foot-related impairments and disability in a small cohort of (n=30) patients with JIA who had a documented history of inflammatory arthritis affecting the joints of the foot. Clinical data collected included the juvenile arthritis foot disability score (JAFI, Andre et al, 2004), foot deformity score (structural index, Platto et al, 1991) and details of medical and podiatric management (if any) during the previous 12 months of outpatient care. Mild to moderate foot-related disability was commonplace affecting approximately two-thirds of the sample, as was rear-foot deformity. This was in spite of patients receiving modern-day management according to contemporary medical guidelines, with disease-modifying anti-rheumatics and anti- TNF drugs, and in some cases specialist paediatric podiatry care. Thus it was conceded that disease-related foot disability appears to persist despite modern treatment paradigms, although further research is required to determine the long-term outcomes associated with foot disease.