Clinical trial NCT00000414: Patient Education in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis
Official title: Patient Education Strategies for Better Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Osteoarthritis (OA)
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis
Osteoarthritis
Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Osteoarthritis (OA)
Arthritis education
Health care service evaluation
Outcomes research
Arthritis Self-Management Program (ASMP)
Self-Managed Arthritis Relief Therapy (SMART) Program
Lead sponsor: Stanford University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
First posted: 1999-11-04
Enrollment: 1200
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This project will evaluate the effectiveness and general usefulness of two arthritis patient education programs. The first, the Arthritis Self-Management Program, is a 6-week, community-based program taught in small groups by peer leaders. The second, the Self-Managed Arthritis Relief Therapy (SMART) Program, is a computer-driven program delivered through the mail. Participants in this project are people with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis who are taking part in the larger long-term studies being conducted by ARAMIS (the Arthritis, Rheumatism and Aging Medical Information System).

Detailed description: In a changing health care environment, the role of patients in managing their arthritis is increasingly important. Patient education is the primary means for teaching patients how to fulfill this role successfully. The goal of self-management health education is not merely to provide information but also to change patient attitudes and behavior so that patient outcomes are improved. These programs represent a new treatment for arthritis.

This project will evaluate the relative effect on health status and cost-effectiveness of two arthritis patient education programs that use different delivery systems. The Arthritis Self-Management Program (ASMP) uses a small group, multi-class format. It is taught by trained lay leaders and has been evaluated for effectiveness and widely disseminated. The Self-Managed Arthritis Relief Therapy (SMART) Program is a computer-driven, individualized, mail-delivered intervention. Results of a pilot study suggest that it is effective in improving health status and reducing health care use.

The project will also evaluate how generalizable the SMART program is and its effectiveness for patients with different diagnoses (OA and RA). It will also determine the attributes of patients who choose and do not choose to participate in patient education programs as well as the attributes of those who complete and do not complete the ASMP and SMART programs.

Through use of the ARAMIS data collection system, the project allows us to describe the differences between people who volunteer to receive patient education and those who refuse patient education. This project is directed at improving patient outcomes in both RA and OA through wide availability of a low-cost, mail-delivered arthritis self-management program that is the next generation in arthritis health education.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Physician diagnosis of OA or RA
* Participation in the ARAMIS longitudinal study

Exclusion Criteria:

* Age under 18

Primary outcomes:
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Palo Alto
country: United States
facility: Stanford University
state: California
city: Wichita
country: United States
facility: Wichita Arthritis Center
state: Kansas
city: Pittsburgh
country: United States
facility: University of Pittsburgh
state: Pennsylvania
city: Nashville
country: United States
facility: Vanderbilt University
state: Tennessee
city: Edmonton
country: Canada
facility: University of Saskatoon
state: Alberta
Study officials:
affiliation: Stanford University
name: Kate R. Lorig, DrPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Lorig KR, Ritter PL, Laurent DD, Fries JF. Long-term randomized controlled trials of tailored-print and small-group arthritis self-management interventions. Med Care. 2004 Apr;42(4):346-54. doi: 10.1097/01.mlr.0000118709.74348.65.