Dataset Information

Stiffness is more than just duration and severity: a qualitative exploration in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Stiffness is internationally recognized as an important indicator of inflammatory activity in RA but is poorly understood and difficult to measure. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of stiffness from the patient perspective.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 RA patients were analysed independently by researchers and pat.ient partners using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Six themes were identified. Part of having RA identified stiffness as a normal consequence of RA, perceived as associated with disease-related aspects such as fluctuating disease activity, other RA symptoms and disease duration. Local and widespread highlighted stiffness occurring not only in joints, but also over the whole body, being more widespread during the morning or flare. Linked to behaviour and environment illustrated factors that influence stiffness, including movement, medications and weather. Highly variable captured the fluctuating nature of stiffness within and between patients and in relation to temporality, duration and intensity. Impacts on daily life emphasized the effect of stiffness on a range of domains, including physical function, quality of life, psychological well-being, activities of daily living and participation in work and leisure activities. Requires self-management detailed self-management strategies targeting both the symptom and its consequences.

Conclusion

Patients' experiences of stiffness were varied, complex and not exclusive to the morning period. Importantly, stiffness was reported in terms of impact rather than the traditional measurement concepts of severity or duration. Based on these findings, further research is needed to develop a patient-centred measure that adequately reflects inflammatory activity.

SUBMITTER: Halls S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4372677 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Stiffness is more than just duration and severity: a qualitative exploration in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Halls Serena S Dures Emma E Kirwan John J Pollock Jon J Baker Gill G Edmunds Avis A Hewlett Sarah S

Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 20140916 4

<h4>Objective</h4>Stiffness is internationally recognized as an important indicator of inflammatory activity in RA but is poorly understood and difficult to measure. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of stiffness from the patient perspective.<h4>Methods</h4>Semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 RA patients were analysed independently by researchers and pat.ient partners using inductive thematic analysis.<h4>Results</h4>Six themes were identified. Part of having RA identi ...[more]

PMID: 25231178

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Project description:Background and objectivesAlthough morning stiffness has long been recognized as a characteristic feature of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it is no more included in the 2010 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria or in the current major instruments for evaluating disease activity of RA. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine the independent value and the optimal measurement of morning stiffness by clarifying the associations between morning stiffness and synovial inflammation.Patients and methodsWe enrolled 76 consecutive RA patients who underwent musculoskeletal ultrasound examination and agreed to participate in the study. In addition to asking the duration of morning stiffness, we asked patients to complete a diagram which represents the time course of their morning stiffness in the dominant hand. Based on this diagram, we calculated the severity and the diurnal improvement of morning stiffness. We also determined the activity of intra-articular synovitis in 11 joints and tenosynovitis in 8 tendons/tendon compartments in the same hand by using power Doppler (PD) ultrasound with a semiquantitative score (0-3).ResultsFor intra-articular synovitis, swollen/tender joint counts more strongly correlated with total PD scores (? = 0.379-0.561, p ? 0.001) than did any parameters of morning stiffness (? = 0.217-0.314, p = 0.006-0.021). For tenosynovitis, however, the severity on awakening and the improvement of morning stiffness more strongly correlated with total PD scores (? = 0.503-0.561, p < 0.001) than did swollen/tender joint counts (? = 0.276-0.388, p = 0.001-0.016). Multivariate analyses identified the severity on awakening and the improvement but not the duration of morning stiffness as factors that independently associate with the total tenosynovial PD score.ConclusionsOur data demonstrate a pathophysiological link between morning stiffness and tenosynovitis and also give an insight into the optimal measurement of morning stiffness. Our data support an independent value of evaluating morning stiffness in the management of RA.

Project description:BackgroundDespite improvements in treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and spondyloarthritis (axSpA), several key unmet needs remain, such as fatigue. The objective of this study was to describe the severity of fatigue, disease characteristics and socioeconomic factors in people with RA, PsA and axSpA.MethodsThe study was designed as a cross-sectional survey collecting patient characteristics such as disease characteristics, socioeconomic factors and fatigue in people with RA, PsA and axSpA in Denmark. Respondents were consecutively recruited for the study over a six-month period in 2018 via routine visits to outpatient rheumatology clinics. Study nurses collected information on diagnosis, current disease-related treatment and disease activity from medical journals. People were invited to complete a questionnaire related to socioeconomic factors and containing the FACIT-Fatigue subscale. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SAS.ResultsWe invited 633 people to participate, and 488 (77%) completed the questionnaire. Women constituted 62% of respondents, and the mean age was 53.5 years. Respondents had on average been diagnosed between 11 and 15 years ago. Overall, 79% had no changes to their disease-related treatment during the past year, and the average disease activity as indicated by DAS28 for RA and PsA was 2.48 and 2.36, respectively, and BASDAI for axSpA was 28.40. Fatigue was present in all three diagnoses (mean: 34.31). The mean fatigue score varied from respondents answering that they suffered from no or little fatigue (mean: 45.48) to extreme fatigue (mean: 10.11). Analyses demonstrated that the respondents were not considerably different from nonrespondents, and the study population is considered representative compared with Danish RA and axSpA patients in the Danish National Rheumatology Registry, the DANBIO database.ConclusionWe found that the majority of the study population were fatigued (61%). They had low disease activity and few disease-related treatment changes.

Dataset Information

Stiffness is more than just duration and severity: a qualitative exploration in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Stiffness is more than just duration and severity: a qualitative exploration in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Similar Datasets

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