Development and Pilot Testing of Multimedia Patient Education Tools for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis,Osteoporosis, and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective

We developed and tested multimedia patient education tools (video tools) for patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), osteoporosis (OP), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

We followed an “edutainment” model, incorporating educational patient story lines. The goals were designed to make the programs both didactic and entertaining, with navigation and graphic user interfaces as simple as possible. We created both English and Spanish language versions. Once the video tool was finalized, 60 patients, 20 per disease, were shown the tool and interviewed. Disease knowledge was our primary outcome, and decision conflict, disease management, and acceptability were secondary outcomes.

Results

We observed statistically significant differences in pre‐ to postintervention knowledge questionnaire scores (before and after viewing the video tool) (OA: P = 0.03, OP: P = 0.01, and RA: P < 0.0001). Most participants felt they gained “clarity” on disease duration, symptoms, and the time medication takes to start acting; were “encouraged to see their doctor regularly”; and were more aware about taking their medications. In terms of acceptability, most patients in all disease groups found the length and amount of information presented in the video tools to be “just right,” and the presentation to be “balanced.” In terms of comprehension, all participants provided a favorable evaluation of the video tool; all found the video easy to use, the vocabulary easy to understand, and the materials to be well organized.

Conclusion

Multimedia tools that incorporate videos may help patients better understand and manage their disease. Patient involvement in the development process is essential to ensure relevant content and usability.

     

Preventive Treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Issues Regarding Patient Preferences

The detection of biomarkers in the preclinical phase of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and recent therapeutic advances suggest that it may be possible to identify and treat persons at high risk and to prevent the development of RA. Several trials are ongoing to test the efficacy of a therapeutic intervention in primary prevention. This paper reviews potential populations that might be considered for preventative medication. Further, we review the medications that are being explored to treat individuals considered at high risk of developing RA. Finally, in a group of asymptomatic individuals at high risk of developing RA, we assessed which factors mattered most when considering a preventive therapeutic intervention and what type of preventive treatment would be most acceptable to them. Understanding subjects’ perceptions of risks and benefits and willingness to undergo preventive therapy will be important in designing and implementing screening and preventive strategies.     

Coping Strategies for Health and Daily-Life Stressors in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis,Ankylosing Spondylitis,and Gout: STROBE-Compliant Article

This article aims to identify the strategies for coping with health and daily-life stressors of Mexican patients with chronic rheumatic disease.We analyzed the baseline data of a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and gout. Their strategies for coping were identified with a validated questionnaire. Comparisons between health and daily-life stressors and between the 3 clinical conditions were made. With regression analyses, we determined the contribution of individual, socioeconomic, educational, and health-related quality-of-life variables to health status and coping strategy.We identified several predominant coping strategies in response to daily-life and health stressors in 261 patients with RA, 226 with AS, and 206 with gout. Evasive and reappraisal strategies were predominant when patients cope with health stressors; emotional/negative and evasive strategies predominated when coping with daily-life stressors. There was a significant association between the evasive pattern and the low short-form health survey (SF-36) scores and health stressors across the 3 diseases. Besides some differences between diagnoses, the most important finding was the predominance of the evasive strategy and its association with low SF-36 score and high level of pain in patients with gout.Patients with rheumatic diseases cope in different ways when confronted with health and daily-life stressors. The strategy of coping differs across diagnoses; emotional/negative and evasive strategies are associated with poor health-related quality of life. The identification of the coping strategies could result in the design of psychosocial interventions to improve self-management.     

Global Functional Status in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Disease Duration and Patient Age

With the aim of clarifying whether patient age could be an additional explanation for the differences in the clinical expression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) found in different populations, we evaluated the possibility of patient age being a significant factor associated with global functional status, independent from disease duration. Our present results suggest that both disease duration and patient age are major factors in the global functional status of patients with RA, and that patient age is particularly important when a subgroup of patients with more than 60 years of age and more than 20 years of disease duration is considered. These data are relevant when comparing two different RA groups: not only should we have a similar mean age and mean disease duration, but also the subgroups of patients more than 60 years of age and with more than 20 years of disease duration should correspond to equivalent proportions in the populations studied. Received: 28 July 2000 / Accepted: 30 July 2001     

Albuminuria in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Associations With Rheumatoid Arthritis Characteristics and Subclinical Atherosclerosis

Objective

Albuminuria is a marker for subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD ) in the general population. It is uncertain whether this association is present in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA ), a population with increased atherosclerosis and CVD events.

Methods

Urine albumin from a spot morning collection was measured, and the urine albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio (uACR ) was calculated for RA patients and a population‐based sample of demographically matched non‐RA controls. Associations of elevated uACR (≥25 mg/gm for women and ≥17 mg/gm for men) with CVD risk factors and measures of atherosclerosis (coronary artery calcification, ultrasound‐determined maximal intima‐media thickness of the common carotid artery and internal carotid artery [ICA ], and the presence of focal plaque in the ICA ) were compared cross‐sectionally according to RA status.

Results

We compared 196 RA patients with 271 non‐RA controls. Elevated uACR was found in 18% of the RA patients compared with 17% of the controls (P = 0.89). After adjustment, RA was associated with 57% lower odds of elevated uACR (P = 0.016). Higher serum creatinine levels and hypertension were both strongly and significantly associated with elevated uACR in the control group but not in the RA group (both P for interaction < 0.05). Among RA characteristics, the adjusted prevalence of elevated uACR among those treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors was less than half that among those not so treated (9% versus 20%, respectively; P = 0.047).

Conclusion

There was no association in the RA group of elevated uACR with measures of atherosclerosis or with several key cardiometabolic risk factors, which suggests a lower usefulness of elevated uACR as an indicator of subclinical CVD in RA.

     

Takotsubo Syndrome in a Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Under Tofacitinib: A Case Report

We describe a case of a 57-year-old white woman treated for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with tofacitinib 10 mg daily (started one year ago) and prednisolone 5 mg daily. She presented to the emergency department with a tight squeezing chest pain and shortness of breath for 7 h and the clinical evaluation revealed regional systolic dysfunction of the left ventricle, mimicking a myocardial infarction, in the absence of angiographic evidence of obstructive coronary artery disease or acute plaque rupture. All changes were transient and resolved completely within 4 days. The diagnosis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TKM) was established. This is, as far as we know, the first report of a case of TKM in a RA patient taking tofacitinib. Although the association has not been previously described and the precise cause cannot be identified in this patient, the association with tofacitinib should be considered given the etiopathogenic rationale and the absence of any other identifiable cause.     

High Adherence to System‐Level Performance Measures for Rheumatoid Arthritis in a National Early Arthritis Cohort Over Eight Years

Objective

To assess adherence to 3 system‐level performance measures in a national early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohort.

Methods

Patients enrolled in the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (2007–2015) who met 1987 or 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism criteria with <1 year of symptom duration and ≥1 year of followup after enrollment were included. Performance measures assessed were the percentage of RA patients seen in yearly followup, and the number of gaps between visits of >12 or >14 months, the percentage of RA patients treated with a disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), and days from RA diagnosis to initiation of a DMARD. Results are shown stratified by enrollment year to assess for temporal changes in performance.

Results

A total of 1,763 early RA patients were included (mean age 54 years, 73% female, and 82% white). At enrollment, mean ± SD disease duration was 6 ± 3 months, and Disease Activity Score in 28 joints was 5.1 ± 1.5. Over 8 years, the proportion of patients seen in annual followup declined from 100% to 91%. Over followup, 42% of patients had 0 gaps in care of >12 months, and 64% had 0 gaps >14 months. The percentage of DMARD‐treated early RA patients was and remained high (95–87%), and the percentage receiving DMARDs within 14 days of diagnosis was 75%. Median time‐to‐DMARD therapy was 1 day, indicating DMARDs were initiated at diagnosis (90th percentile 93 days).

Conclusion

There was evidence of high adherence to system‐level performance measures in this early RA cohort following a protocol. Small declines in performance were noted with increasing length of patient followup. Our findings are useful for performance measure benchmarking.     

Trends and Determinants of Osteoporosis Treatment and Screening in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Compared to Osteoarthritis

Objective

To profile osteoporosis (OP) care in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over the past decade.

Methods

Patients with RA or osteoarthritis (OA) were followed from 2003 through 2014. OP care was defined as receipt of OP treatment (with the exception of calcium/vitamin D) or screening (OPTS). Adjusted trends over followup, and the factors associated with OP care, were examined using multivariable Cox proportional hazards.

Results

OPTS was reported in 67.4% of 11,669 RA patients and in 64.6% of 2,829 OA patients during a median (interquartile range) 5.5 (2–9) years of followup. In patients for whom treatment was recommended by the 2010 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) glucocorticoid‐induced OP (GIOP) guidelines (48.4% of RA patients and 17.6% of OA patients), approximately 55% overall reported OP medication use. RA patients were not more likely to undergo OPTS compared to OA patients (hazard ratio 1.04 [95% confidence interval 0.94–1.15]). Adjusted models showed a stable trend for OPTS between 2004 and 2008 compared to 2003, with a significant downward trend after 2008 in both RA and OA patients. Factors associated with receipt of OP care in RA patients were older age, postmenopausal state, prior fragility fracture or diagnosis of OP, any duration of glucocorticoid treatment, and use of biologic agents.

Conclusion

Approximately half of RA patients for whom treatment was indicated never received an OP medication. OP care in RA patients was not better than in OA patients, and the relative risk of the application of this care has been decreasing in RA and OA patients since 2008 without improvement after the release of the 2010 ACR GIOP guideline.