Abstract
BackgroundThis study sought to establish the preferences of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) about the best outcome measure for a health and fitness intervention randomised controlled trial (RCT). The results of this study were used to inform the choice of the trial primary and secondary outcome measure.MethodsA discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to assess people’s preferences regarding a number of outcomes (foot and ankle pain, fatigue, mobility, ability to perform daily activities, choice of footwear) as well as different schedules and frequency of delivery for the health and fitness intervention. The outcomes were chosen based on literature review, clinician recommendation and patients’ focus groups. The DCE was constructed in SAS software using the D-efficiency criteria. It compared hypothetical scenarios with varying levels of outcomes severity and intervention schedule. Preference weights were estimated using appropriate econometric models. The partial log-likelihood method was used to assess the attribute importance.ResultsOne hundred people with RA completed 18 choice sets. Overall, people selected foot and ankle pain as the most important outcome, with mobility being nearly as important. There was no evidence of differential preference between intervention schedules or frequency of delivery.ConclusionsFoot and ankle pain can be considered the patient choice for primary outcome of an RCT relating to a health and fitness intervention. This study demonstrated that, by using the DCE method, it is possible to incorporate patients’ preferences at the design stage of a RCT. This approach ensures patient involvement at early stages of health care design.
Highlights
This study sought to establish the preferences of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) about the best outcome measure for a health and fitness intervention randomised controlled trial (RCT)
In this paper we demonstrate a method – the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) - of identifying and prioritising the key outcomes that are important to patients, once clinically relevant outcomes have been identified and mechanisms of change are known
The aim of this study was to use a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in order to assess the relative importance of different outcomes, as well as the nature and schedule of the intervention, with the findings helping to guide the design of an RCT in this area
Summary
This study sought to establish the preferences of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) about the best outcome measure for a health and fitness intervention randomised controlled trial (RCT). Benefits have been shown for gait rehabilitation strategies (i.e. a range of techniques to Stamuli et al Journal of Foot and Ankle Research (2017) 10:57 improve walking) in people who have other conditions where their walking is affected [7, 8]. It would be valuable to design and undertake a RCT in order to assess the effectiveness of a health and fitness intervention intended to facilitate gait rehabilitation in people with RA of the foot or ankle. The health and fitness intervention will adopt the nature of an existing programme, ESCAPE [9], which enables self-management and coping with arthritic pain using exercise, and is widely used for people with chronic joint pain
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
