Research Acronyms
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| A2aR | A2a (Adenosine) Receptor | |
| AC | Arthritis Centres | |
| ACAP | Alliance for the Canadian Arthritis Program | |
| ACE |
Arthritis Centre of Excellence (ON) Arthritis Consumer Experts |
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| ACL | Anterior Cruciate Ligament | |
| ACR | American College of Rheumatology | |
| ACREU | Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit | |
| ACT | Arthritis Consumer Team (AB) | |
| ADL | Activities of Daily Living | |
| AE | Adverse Effects | |
| AHPA | Arthritis Health Professions Association | |
| AIMS | Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale | |
| ANA | Antinuclear Antibody | |
| ARA |
American Rheumatology Association (now the American College of Rheumatology) |
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| ARC |
Arthritis Research Campaign Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (BC) |
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| ARI | Arthritis Rheumatism International | |
| ARMA | Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance | |
| AS | Ankylosing Spondylitis | |
| ASES | Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale | |
| ASMP | Arthritis Self Management Program | |
| bACL | Bioengineered ACL | |
| BAT | Bioartificial Tendon | |
| BASDAI | Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index | |
| BASFI | Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index | |
| BJD | Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 | |
| BRM | Biological Response Modifier | |
| CAB | Consumer Advisory Board (of the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (BC)) | |
| CAC | Consumer Advisory Council (of the Canadian Arthritis Network) | |
| CAF | Children's Arthritis Foundation | |
| CAN | Canadian Arthritis Network | |
| CAPA | Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance | |
| CBT | Cognitive Behavioural Therapy | |
| CCAR | Canadian Council of Academic Rheumatologists | |
| CCN | Cochrane Consumer Network | |
| CCP | Canadian Centre of Philanthropy | |
| CGA | Candidate Gene Approach | |
| CI | Confidence Interval | |
| CIHI | Canadian Institute of Health Information | |
| CIHR | Canadian Institute of Health Research | |
| CJRR | Canadian Joint Replacement Registry | |
| CMC | Carpometacarpal Joint | |
| CMSG | Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group | |
| COA | Canadian Orthopaedic Association | |
| COF | Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation | |
| COPM | Canadian Occupational Performance Measure | |
| COX | Cyclooxygenase | |
| CPP | Cartilage-Porous Calcium Polyphosphate | |
| CRA | Canadian Rheumatology Association | |
| CRP | C-Reactive Protein | |
| CRRC | Canadian Rheumatology Research Consortium | |
| DAP | Discovery Advancement Program | |
| DAS | Disease Activity State (also: Das28; Das44) | |
| DIP | Distal Interphalangeal joint | |
| DMARD | Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug | |
| DRP | Disease Repercussion Profile | |
| DTCA | Direct to Consumer Advertising | |
| EBM | Evidence Based Medicine | |
| ERRα | Estrogen-Related Receptor α | |
| ESR | Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate | |
| et al | and others (et alii) | |
| EQ-5D | European Quality of Life 5D Questionnaire (EuroQoL) | |
| EULAR | European League Against Rheumatism | |
| FDA | Food and Drug Administration | |
| FSMP | Fibromyalgia Self Management Program | |
| FU | Follow up | |
| GHQ | General Health Questionnaire | |
| GLP | Good Laboratory Practice | |
| GP | General Practitioner (also Family Practitioner or Primary Care Physician) | |
| GSES | General Self-Efficacy Scale | |
| GWS | Genome-Wide Scans | |
| HAD | Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale | |
| HAQ | Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire | |
| HC | Health Canada | |
| HCCC | Health Charities Council of Canada | |
| HQP | Highly Qualified Personnel | |
| HRQoL | Health Related Quality of Life | |
| IAIS | International Association of Inflammation Societies | |
| ICER | Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio | |
| IJD | Inflammatory Joint Disease | |
| ILAR | International League of Associations for Rheumatology | |
| IMHA | Institute for Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis | |
| IMMPACT | Initiative on Methods, Measurements and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials | |
| IP | Intellectual Property | |
| IPA | Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis | |
| IPC | Interpenetrating Phase Composite | |
| IRA | Informatics for Research in Arthritis | |
| IWH | Institute for Work & Health | |
| JA | Juvenile Arthritis | |
| JBR | Jingle Bell Run | |
| JIA | Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis | |
| JIM | Joints in Motion | |
| JPBA | Joint Protection Behaviour Assessment | |
| JRA | Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis | |
| KTE | Knowledge Translation and Exchange | |
| KTEE | Knowledge and Technology Exchange and Exploitation | |
| LDAS | Low Disease Activity State | |
| MACTAR | McMaster Toronto Arthritis Patient Preference Disability Questionnaire | |
| MCID | Minimal Clinically Important Difference | |
| MCP | Metacarpophalangeal (the bones in fingers) | |
| MDT | Multi Disciplinary Team | |
| MHAQ | Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (see: HAQ) | |
| MHIQ | McMaster Health Index Questionnaire | |
| MHOQ | Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire | |
| MOH | Ministry of Health | |
| MMP | Matrix Metalloproteinases | |
| MOS SF- 36 | See: SF-36 | |
| MPC | Medical Planning Committee | |
| MRC | Medical Research Council of Canada | |
| MRI | Magnetic Resonance Imaging | |
| MSK | Musculoskeletal | |
| MSS | Modified Sharp Score | |
| MTD | Mixed Tissue Disease | |
| MTP | Metatarsal-phalangeal (joint between the end of the foot and the toes) | |
| MTX | Methotrexate | |
| NCE | Network Centres of Excellence | |
| NI | Network Investigator | |
| NIAMS | National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases | |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health | |
| NSAID | Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug | |
| NSERC | Natural Science and Engineering Research Council | |
| NVHA | National Voluntary Health Agencies | |
| NVO | National Voluntary Organizations | |
| OA | Osteoarthritis | |
| OARSI | Osteoarthritis Research Society International | |
| OMERACT | Outcome MEasures in Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials | |
| OSC | Osteoporosis Society of Canada | |
| OT | Occupational Therapy or Therapist | |
| PASI | Patient Specific Index | |
| PCA | Principal Component Analysis | |
| PDE | Phosphodiesterase | |
| PET | Problem Elicitation Technique | |
| PGWB | Psychological General Well-Being Index | |
| PI | Principal Investigator | |
| PIP | Proximal Interphalangeal (small bone in fingers and toes) | |
| PPIA | Patient Partners in Arthritis | |
| PT | Physiotherapy or Physiotherapist | |
| pt | patient | |
| PVA- C/MAAA | Polyvinyl Alcohol-Carbonate/Methacrylic Acid | |
| QALYs | Quality-Adjusted Life-Years | |
| R&CD | Research and Career Development | |
| R&D | Research and Development | |
| RA | Rheumatoid Arthritis | |
| RADAI | Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index | |
| RAND-36 | See: SF-36 | |
| RASE | Rheumatoid Arthritis Self-Efficacy scale | |
| RAQoL | Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire | |
| RCT | Randomized Controlled Trial | |
| RF | Rheumatoid Factor | |
| RHA | Regional Health Authority | |
| RMC | Research Management Committee | |
| RNP | Rheumatology Nurse Practitioner | |
| RNS | Rheumatology Nurse Specialist | |
| Rx&D | Canada’s Research Based Pharmaceutical Companies | |
| SA | Spondylitis Ankylopoetica | |
| SAARD | Slow Acting Anti-Rheumatic Drug | |
| SCQM | Swiss Clinical Quality Management in rheumatoid arthritis | |
| SD | Standard Deviation (statistical measure) | |
| SDD | Smallest Detectable Difference | |
| SEM | Standard Error of the Mean (statistical measure) | |
| SEIQOL | Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life | |
| SES |
Standardized Effect Size (see Effect Size) Socio-Economic Status |
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| SF | Synovial Fluid | |
| SF-36 | Medical Outcome Study Short Form with 36 items | |
| SJC | Swollen Joint Count | |
| SLE | Systemic Lupus Erythematosis | |
| SM | Synovial Membrane | |
| SMAC | Scientific and Medical Advisory Council | |
| SNP | Single Nucleotide Polymorphism | |
| SODA | Sequential Occupational Dexterity Assessment | |
| SRI | Strategic Research Initiative | |
| SRID | Strategic Research Initiative Development | |
| SRR | Strategic Research Resource | |
| SS | Sjogrens Syndrome | |
| SS-A |
Social Support Appraisals Scale-A Autoantibody associated with Sjogrens Syndrome |
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| SS-B |
Social Support Appraisals Scale-B Autoantibody associated with Sjogrens Syndrome |
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| SSHRC | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council | |
| SSZ | Sulfasalazine | |
| TAS | The Arthritis Society | |
| TEC | Training and Education Committee | |
| TJC | Tender Joint Count | |
| THR | Total Hip Replacement | |
| TKR | Total Knee Replacement | |
| TNF | Tumour Necrosis Factor | |
| TPD | Therapeutic Products Directorate of Health Canada | |
| TPP | Therapeutic Products Program of Health Protection Branch of Health Canada | |
| VAC | Veterans Affairs Canada | |
| VAS | Visual Analog Scale | |
| WHO | World Health Organization | |
| WOMAC | Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index | |