Is there a difference in healthcare usage within Rheumatology?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is there a difference in healthcare usage, dependent on gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, for those diagnosed with an inflammatory joint condition in secondary care rheumatology?
IRAS ID
333351
Contact name
Rhys J Hayward
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London Northwest University NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that success of medical treatments is directly linked to an individual’s socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or gender. Some of this may be due to certain nations having an insurance and public healthcare system. In the United Kingdom this is less of an issue. Our study, by use of a single patient questionnaire, is trying to identify if there is a difference in disease activity for those with peripheral autoimmune inflammatory joint arthritis depending on the above factors. The relevance of this will ensure that we can alter any trends that are harmful and treat each person as an individual ensuring equity across all groups.
The requirements of participants are that they are seen for a previously diagnosed peripheral inflammatory arthritis at Northwick Park Hospital and are managed in the Arthritis Centre. They will be required to be over the age of 18 to attend the clinic and therefore all participants will be adults. It is a questionnaire written in English, as such they will need to be able to read and understand English and have the capacity to understand and retain information to be able to answer questions on their ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. This data will then be compared to the individual’s disease activity using a standard validated measure (DAS-28 count), the number of rheumatological medications prescribed, and the number of appointments provided in the preceding five years.
Each participant will spend no more than 15 minutes completing the questionnaire, they will not be asked to complete this again and there is no follow up as such this will be the end of their commitment for the study. We aim to collect 100 responses and plan that this will be achieved within six months of starting the data collection.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/YH/0027
Date of REC Opinion
14 Mar 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion