Purpose: If the pain persists for a long time in the treatment of plantar fasciitis (PF) or if there is no response to treatment, central sensitization (CS) may develop and the pain may transform into nociplastic pain (NP). This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of CS and NP in patients with PF. Methods: This cross-sectional study was undertaken between November 2023 and March 2024. The Foot Function Index (FFI) scale, which evaluates the foot’s functionality, was applied to the patient group. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS), which evaluates pain intensity; the Pain-DETECT scale, which evaluates NP; and the Central Sensitization Scale (CSI), which evaluates CS, were applied to patient and control groups. Results: A total of 206 people were included in the study; 106 were in the patient group with PF, and 100 constituted the control group. While we detected NP in 67 (63.2%) patients according to Pain-DETECT and CS was detected in 91 (85.8%) patients according to CSI among 106 patients with chronic PF; we detected NP in seven (7%) patients according to Pain-DETECT and CS in 44 (44.0%) patients according to CSI among 100 control patients. VAS-score and FFI-pain are moderately and positively correlated with pain-DETECT scores and fairly and positively correlated with CSI scores in the PF group. The pain-DETECT score is moderately and positively correlated with the CSI score in the two groups. Conclusions: This is the first study to evaluate the presence of CS and NP in PF patients. We found NP and CS to be common in patients with chronic PF. Effective pain management in patients with PF before it becomes chronic can prevent the development of CS and NP.

Background and aims: Thyroid function abnormalities and thyroid autoantibodies have previously been described in rheumatoid arthirits (RA) with limited data. In some studies, a relationship was found between thyroid autoantibodies and RA disease activity. However, there are not strong studies in the literature indicating the relationship between thyroid diseases and RA. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of hypothyroidism and to investigate the relationship between thyroid hormone levels, autoantibodies and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods : 1017 patients with the diagnosis of RA were recruited. This observational study was conducted between January 2014 and July 2015. Demographic variables were recorded. Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-cyclic citrulli-nated peptide antibody (anti-CCP), Rheumatoid Factor (RF), C reactive protein (CRP), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), anti-microsomal antibody (anti-TPO )and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (anti-TG) were determined. Visual analog score and Disease Activiy Score 28 (DAS-28) ESR and DAS-28 CRP were recorded. The relationship between thyroid hormone levels and thyroid antibodies and disease activity parameters were determined. Results: 98 (%9,7) patients had hypothyroidism and 61 (%6) patients had hyperthyroidism. 210 (20,7%) patients with RA was positive for TPOAb and 165(16,3%) for anti-TG. Positive correlation was detected between anti-TPO positivity and anti-CCP levels (p:0.005, r:0,274). In anti-TG antibody positive patients, there was a significant positive correlation of thyroid hormone levels with CRP and DAS 28-CRP (p:0.01, r:0,120; p:0.01, r:0,169). Conclusion: Thyroid autoantibodies were found to be positive in 16-21% of patients with RA. Though hypothyroidism is not very frequent in RA patients, autoimmune thyroid disease is quite common, which may be related to disease activity.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to reveal the effect of rehabilitation initiation time on the functional status and complications encountered during the rehabilitation process in stroke patients who underwent rehabilitation program in the physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic of our hospital. Material and methods: Patients who received outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation treatment with the diagnosis of acute stroke in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic of Yozgat City Hospital between January 2017 and August 2022 were screened. Patients with acute stroke and had a file record were included in the study.Demographic information such as age, gender, comorbid diseases; type and direction of stroke, time from stroke until the rehabilitation program begins, total rehabilitation period, stroke-related complications, Brunnstrom stages, and functional ambulation scale scores of stroke patients were recorded Results: A total of 314 patients were included in this study and evaluated improvement in the functional ambulation scale scores according to the beginning time of the rehabilitation program. When the patients were grouped as 0-30 days, 31-60 days, and 61 days or more according to the time elapsed until the rehabilitation program, a significant difference was found in terms of the increase in FAS scores both in the pairwise comparisons and the comparison of all three groups together (p<0.001 for all comparisons). There was a moderate positive correlation between the total number of rehabilitation sessions and improvement in FAS scores (Rho=.316, p<0.01). Complications were observed in almost all patients in our study (97.7%). The comparison of the groups for stroke complications revealed that the frequency of depression, urinary tract infection, urinary incontinence, decubitus ulcer, dysphagia, convulsion, falling and aphasia was lower in the 0-30 days group compared to the other groups (p0.05). Conclusion: Contrary to popular belief, we showed that early rehabilitation does not increase complications and has a positive effect on function. Despite the perception that complications would negatively affect function, there was no significant relationship between the presence of stroke complications and the improvement in FAS score. We found that the rehabilitation program applied in the early period after stroke is effective and reliable. Keywords: Stroke; rehabilitation initiation time; rehabilitation period; functional recovery; stroke-related complications.