Improving screening and prevention of chronic conditions due to inflammation in people living with inflammatory arthritis.

Research Ongoing

Scientific Study Title:

Proof of Concept Study of an EMR Reminder Intervention to Optimize the Primary and Secondary Prevention of Comorbidities in People with Inflammatory Arthritis.

Start Date:

January 2019

End Date:

Ongoing

Research Category

Prevention of Arthritis and Complications

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Why do this research?

Reason For Research

People living with inflammatory arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or lupus) are more likely than the average person to develop other chronic conditions related to inflammation. Examples of those conditions include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, infections, and some cancers. They are responsible for earlier death and lower quality of life. Studies show that people with inflammatory arthritis are not getting the recommended screening and management for the risk factors for the conditions. Studies also show that family physicians (FPs) are the ones who do most of the screening and preventive care.

Methodology

Execution of Research

In this study, we are developing and pilot testing an automatic reminder built into electronic medical records (EMRs) of family physicians. When they see a patient with inflammatory arthritis, the reminder will prompt them to screen or test for the chronic conditions for which the patient is at increased risk.

After pilot testing the automatic reminders, we will perform a proof of concept study to show their feasibility. We will determine how physicians use the reminders with patients, the level of satisfaction of the reminders by physicians, and whether the reminders are effective at improving recommended screening and prevention of chronic conditions related to inflammation in people with inflammatory arthritis

We hope our intervention will prevent conditions related to inflammation in people with inflammatory arthritis. Prevention would improve life expectancy and quality of life and reduce health system costs.