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Review
. 2016 Nov 24;2(2):e000302.
doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2016-000302. eCollection 2016.

Improving inflammatory arthritis management through tighter monitoring of patients and the use of innovative electronic tools

Piet van Riel  1 , Rieke Alten  2 , Bernard Combe  3 , Diana Abdulganieva  4 , Paola Bousquet  5 , Molly Courtenay  6 , Cinzia Curiale  7 , Antonio Gómez-Centeno  8 , Glenn Haugeberg  9 , Burkhard Leeb  10 , Kari Puolakka  11 , Angelo Ravelli  12 , Bernhard Rintelen  13 , Piercarlo Sarzi-Puttini  14
Affiliations
Review

Improving inflammatory arthritis management through tighter monitoring of patients and the use of innovative electronic tools

Piet van Riel et al. RMD Open. .

Abstract

Treating to target by monitoring disease activity and adjusting therapy to attain remission or low disease activity has been shown to lead to improved outcomes in chronic rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Patient-reported outcomes, used in conjunction with clinical measures, add an important perspective of disease activity as perceived by the patient. Several validated PROs are available for inflammatory arthritis, and advances in electronic patient monitoring tools are helping patients with chronic diseases to self-monitor and assess their symptoms and health. Frequent patient monitoring could potentially lead to the early identification of disease flares or adverse events, early intervention for patients who may require treatment adaptation, and possibly reduced appointment frequency for those with stable disease. A literature search was conducted to evaluate the potential role of patient self-monitoring and innovative monitoring of tools in optimising disease control in inflammatory arthritis. Experience from the treatment of congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension shows improved outcomes with remote electronic self-monitoring by patients. In inflammatory arthritis, electronic self-monitoring has been shown to be feasible in patients despite manual disability and to be acceptable to older patients. Patients' self-assessment of disease activity using such methods correlates well with disease activity assessed by rheumatologists. This review also describes several remote monitoring tools that are being developed and used in inflammatory arthritis, offering the potential to improve disease management and reduce pressure on specialists.

Keywords: Disease Activity; Patient perspective; Rheumatoid Arthritis.

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Conflict of interest statement

RA has received research grants and honoraria from the speaker's bureau from Pfizer. BC has received honorarium from Pfizer. DA has received honoraria from Pfizer, MSD and UCB. PB is an employee of Pfizer. CC is an employee of Pfizer. GH is a founder and shareholder of the company DiaGraphIT, manufacturing GoTreatIT Rheuma. BL has received research grants as well as honoraria from Centocor, Abbott, Amgen, Aesca, UCB, Roche, MSD, Celltrion, Schering-Plough, Wyeth, Pfizer, BMS, Jannssen-Cilag, Eli-Lilly, Novartis, Sandoz and Celgene. KP has received honoraria from Abbvie, BMS, MSD, Pfizer, Roche and UCB. AR has received honoraria or research grants from Abbvie, BMS, Centocor, Eli-Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Wyeth. BR has received research grants as well as honoraria from Centocor, Abbott, Amgen, Aesca, UCB, Roche, MSD, Celltrion, Schering-Plough, Wyeth, Pfizer, BMS, Jannssen-Cilag, Eli-Lilly and Novartis. PS-P has received research grant honoraria from Abbvie, UCB, Roche, MSD, Pfizer, BMS, and Eli-Lilly.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Literature search methodology and results flow diagram. ACR, American College of Rheumatology; EULAR, European League Against Rheumatism.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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