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. 2021 Dec 24;37(2):169-179.
doi: 10.46497/ArchRheumatol.2022.8965. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Measuring the impact of an educational intervention in rheumatoid arthritis: An open-label, randomized trial

Laëtitia Michou  1   2   3 , Anne-Sophie Julien  4 , Holly O Witteman  5 , Jean Légaré  6 , Lucie Ratelle  1 , Alexandra Godbout  1 , Johanne Tardif  3 , Suzanne Côté  3 , Geneviève Boily  3 , Rebecca Lui  3 , Alena Ikic  2   3 , Judith Trudeau  7 , Jean-Luc Tremblay  8 , Isabelle Fortin  9 , Louis Bessette  1   2   3 , Anne-Laure Chetaille  1   2   3 , Paul R Fortin  1   2   3
Affiliations

Measuring the impact of an educational intervention in rheumatoid arthritis: An open-label, randomized trial

Laëtitia Michou et al. Arch Rheumatol. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to determine whether patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), either starting on or changing biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), demonstrate better self-management safety skills three months after receiving a multidisciplinary educational intervention compared to patients receiving usual care.

Patients and methods: Between October 2015 and October 2018 , this open-label, randomized-controlled trial included a total of 107 RA patients (27 males, 80 females; mean age: 60.2±10.4 years; range, 54 to 71 years) who were on treatment or in whom treatment was changed with a biological or targeted synthetic DMARD. The patients were randomized into two groups: Group 1 (n=57) received additional intervention with educational DVD and one teleconference session and Group 2 (n=55) received usual care and were offered the intervention at three months. All patients underwent a final visit at six months. At each visit, the patients completed the BioSecure questionnaire measuring the self-care safety skills, a behavioral intention questionnaire, and the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ).

Results: No significant difference was observed in the Biosecure score at three months between the two groups (p=0.08). After pooling the first three-month data in Group 1 and the last three-month data in Group 2, the mean score of the BioSecure questionnaire increased to 7.10±0.92 in the group receiving educational intervention (p<0.0001). This increase was maintained at six months in Group 2 (p=0.88). The rate of appropriate behavioral intention increased over time (76% at baseline and 85% at six months for both groups). There was no significant change in the BMQ (p=0.44 to 0.84).

Conclusion: The development of an educational DVD followed by a teleconference seem to improve self-care safety skills of the patients in practical situations.

Keywords: Health behaviors; patient education; questionnaire; rheumatoid arthritis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Impact of the educational intervention on the BioSecure score over time.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Impact of the educational intervention on behavioral intention over time.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Impact of educational intervention on the four subscales of the beliefs about medicines questionnaire (BMQ): (a) Specific-necessity. (b) Specific-concerns. (c) General-harm. (d) General-overuse. BMQ: Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Impact of the educational intervention on rheumatoid arthritis medication adherence over time: (a) Biological or targeted synthetic DMARDs and (b) Conventional synthetic DMARDs. DMARDs: Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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