PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Peter Stoustrup AU - Marinka Twilt AU - Lynn Spiegel AU - Kasper Dahl Kristensen AU - Bernd Koos AU - Thomas Klit Pedersen AU - Annelise Küseler AU - Randy Q. Cron AU - Shelly Abramowicz AU - Carlalberta Verna AU - Timo Peltomäki AU - Per Alstergren AU - Ross Petty AU - Sarah Ringold AU - Sven Erik Nørholt AU - Rotraud K. Saurenmann AU - Troels Herlin TI - Clinical Orofacial Examination in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: International Consensus-based Recommendations for Monitoring Patients in Clinical Practice and Research Studies AID - 10.3899/jrheum.160796 DP - 2017 Jan 15 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - jrheum.160796 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2017/01/05/jrheum.160796.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2017/01/05/jrheum.160796.full AB - Objective To develop international consensus-based recommendations for the orofacial examination of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), for use in clinical practice and research. Methods Using a sequential phased approach, a multidisciplinary task force developed and evaluated a set of recommendations for the orofacial examination of patients with JIA. Phase 1: A Delphi survey was conducted among 40 expert physicians and dentists with the aim of identifying and ranking the importance of items for inclusion. Phase 2: The task force developed consensus about the domains and items to be included in the recommendations. Phase 3: A systematic literature review was performed to assess the evidence supporting the consensus-based recommendations. Phase 4: An independent group of orofacial and JIA experts were invited to assess the content validity of the task force’s recommendations. Results Five recommendations were developed to assess the following 5 domains: medical history, orofacial symptoms, muscle and temporomandibular joint function, orofacial function, and dentofacial growth. After application of data search criteria, 56 articles were included in the systematic review. The level of evidence for the 5 recommendations was derived primarily from descriptive studies, such as cross-sectional and case-control studies. Conclusion Five recommendations are proposed for the orofacial examination of patients with JIA to improve the clinical practice and aid standardized data collection for future studies. The task force has formulated a future research program based on the proposed recommendations.