Abstract
BackgroundThere is a demand for a flexible and individually tailored patient education to meet patients’ specific needs and priorities, but this area has seldom been studied in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA), a family of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The aim of the present study was to identify needs and priorities in patient education in patients with SpA. A second aim was to investigate patients’ experiences and preferences of receiving patient education.MethodsData collection included a questionnaire survey with the Educational Needs Assessment Tool (ENAT) and interviews, using a mixed-methods design. Patients were identified through a specialist clinic register. Descriptive data are presented as mean with standard deviation, or frequencies. Chi-square test and independent-samples t-test were used for group comparisons. A manifest qualitative conventional content analysis was conducted to explore patients’ experiences and needs in patient education, based on two focus groups (n = 6) and five individual interviews.ResultsAlmost half (43%) of the 183 SpA patients had educational needs, particularly regarding aspects of self-help, feelings, and the disease process. More educational needs were reported by women and in patients with higher disease activity, while duration of disease did not affect the needs. The qualitative analysis highlighted the importance of obtaining a guiding, reliable, and easily available patient education for management of SpA. Individual contacts with healthcare professionals were of importance, but newer media were also requested.ConclusionThere are considerable educational needs in patients with SpA, and education concerning self-help, feelings, and the diseases process were raised as important issues. Healthcare professionals need to consider the importance of presenting varied formats of education based on the experiences and preferences of patients with SpA.
Highlights
There is a demand for a flexible and individually tailored patient education to meet patients’ specific needs and priorities, but this area has seldom been studied in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA), a family of inflammatory rheumatic diseases
The results from the present study showed that almost half of the patients with SpA considered that they had a need for education, and the areas concerning self-help, feelings, and the disease process were those that were most requested
There is a demand for patient education, where almost half of the patients with SpA expressed a need for more
Summary
There is a demand for a flexible and individually tailored patient education to meet patients’ specific needs and priorities, but this area has seldom been studied in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA), a family of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. In patients with different chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and arthritis, patient education is a crucial non-pharmacological treatment to better manage the disease and optimise health [1, 2]. Patient education can be described as an interactive process between patients and the healthcare providers [3, 4], through different learning activities, with the aim of supporting and Haglund et al BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2017) 18:335 patient education includes both information on the disease – for example, concerning symptoms, consequences, treatment, physical activity, exercise, and assisting devices – and emotional support, such as the confidence to act (self-management) and discussion of influences on social circumstances [1, 3]. Evidence based recommendations for education in patients with arthritis in general have recently been developed, addressing when, how, to whom, and by whom the education should be delivered and evaluated [2]
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