FORWARD is asking you for this information now as it may provide valuable information to health care providers going forward to help make decisions about how to treat patients with rheumatic diseases who get COVID-19. Our 6-month questionnaires are the mainstay of our research, but if there's an important question that needs answering for the scientific community, we can do followup outside of this. Since this pandemic is unlike anything we've ever experienced, there's a great need for timely information to share from patient experiences with the larger health/science community.
Thank you so much for taking the time to advance this crucial research! We have already published a study based on your answers, and it is being used by healthcare providers to improve the care of those with rheumatic diseases.