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European Qualitative research project on Patient-preferred outcomes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (EQPERA) : Rationale, design and methods of a multinational, multicentre, multilingual, longitudinal qualitative study

Van Der Elst, Kristien ; Bremander, Ann LU ; De Groef, An ; Larsson, Ingrid LU orcid ; Mathijssen, Elke G.E. ; Vriezekolk, Johanna E. ; Westhovens, Rene and Van Eijk-Hustings, Yvonne J.L. (2019) In BMJ Open 9(3).
Abstract

Introduction Including the patient perspective is important to achieve optimal outcomes in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ample qualitative studies exist on patient outcomes in RA. A Belgian study recently unravelled what matters most to patients throughout the overwhelming and rapidly evolving early stage of RA. The present study, European Qualitative research project on Patient-preferred outcomes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (EQPERA) was created to contribute to a more universal understanding of patient-preferred health and treatment outcomes by integrating the perspectives of patients with early RA from three European countries. Methods and analysis In EQPERA, a qualitative, explorative, longitudinal study will be... (More)

Introduction Including the patient perspective is important to achieve optimal outcomes in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ample qualitative studies exist on patient outcomes in RA. A Belgian study recently unravelled what matters most to patients throughout the overwhelming and rapidly evolving early stage of RA. The present study, European Qualitative research project on Patient-preferred outcomes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (EQPERA) was created to contribute to a more universal understanding of patient-preferred health and treatment outcomes by integrating the perspectives of patients with early RA from three European countries. Methods and analysis In EQPERA, a qualitative, explorative, longitudinal study will be implemented in The Netherlands and Sweden, parallel to the methods applied in the previously conducted Belgian study. In each country, a purposive sample of patients with early RA will be individually interviewed 3-6 months after start of the initial RA treatment and subsequently, the same participants will be invited to take part in a focus group 12-18 months after RA treatment initiation. Data collection and analysis will be independently conducted by the local research teams in their native language. A meta-analysis of the local findings will be performed to explore and describe similarities, differences and patterns across countries. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was granted by the responsible local ethics committees. EQPERA follows the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki. Two main papers are foreseen (apart from the data reporting on the local findings) for peer-reviewed publication.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
longitudinal study, patient preference, qualitative research, rheumatoid arthritis
in
BMJ Open
volume
9
issue
3
article number
023606
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:30918031
  • scopus:85063639513
ISSN
2044-6055
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023606
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d37c6e48-6d03-4255-b5fc-e524a030ae7e
date added to LUP
2019-04-10 12:08:27
date last changed
2024-07-09 09:46:51
@article{d37c6e48-6d03-4255-b5fc-e524a030ae7e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Introduction Including the patient perspective is important to achieve optimal outcomes in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ample qualitative studies exist on patient outcomes in RA. A Belgian study recently unravelled what matters most to patients throughout the overwhelming and rapidly evolving early stage of RA. The present study, European Qualitative research project on Patient-preferred outcomes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (EQPERA) was created to contribute to a more universal understanding of patient-preferred health and treatment outcomes by integrating the perspectives of patients with early RA from three European countries. Methods and analysis In EQPERA, a qualitative, explorative, longitudinal study will be implemented in The Netherlands and Sweden, parallel to the methods applied in the previously conducted Belgian study. In each country, a purposive sample of patients with early RA will be individually interviewed 3-6 months after start of the initial RA treatment and subsequently, the same participants will be invited to take part in a focus group 12-18 months after RA treatment initiation. Data collection and analysis will be independently conducted by the local research teams in their native language. A meta-analysis of the local findings will be performed to explore and describe similarities, differences and patterns across countries. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was granted by the responsible local ethics committees. EQPERA follows the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki. Two main papers are foreseen (apart from the data reporting on the local findings) for peer-reviewed publication.</p>}},
  author       = {{Van Der Elst, Kristien and Bremander, Ann and De Groef, An and Larsson, Ingrid and Mathijssen, Elke G.E. and Vriezekolk, Johanna E. and Westhovens, Rene and Van Eijk-Hustings, Yvonne J.L.}},
  issn         = {{2044-6055}},
  keywords     = {{longitudinal study; patient preference; qualitative research; rheumatoid arthritis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{BMJ Open}},
  title        = {{European Qualitative research project on Patient-preferred outcomes in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (EQPERA) : Rationale, design and methods of a multinational, multicentre, multilingual, longitudinal qualitative study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023606}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023606}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}