A systematic literature review of strategies promoting early referral and reducing delays in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory arthritis

E Villeneuve, JL Nam, MJ Bell, CM Deighton, DT Felson, Mieke Hazes, IB McInnes, AJ Silman, DH Solomon, AE Thompson, PHP White, VP Bykerk, P Emery

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

101 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background Despite the importance of timely management of patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), delays exist in its diagnosis and treatment. Objective To perform a systematic literature review to identify strategies addressing these delays to inform an American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) taskforce. Methods The authors searched literature published between January 1985 and November 2010, and ACR and EULAR abstracts between 2007-2010. Additional information was obtained through a grey literature search, a survey conducted through ACR and EULAR, and a hand search of the literature. Results (1) From symptom onset to primary care, community case-finding strategies, including the use of a questionnaire and autoantibody testing, have been designed to identify patients with early IA. Several websites provided information on IA but were of varying quality and insufficient to aid early referral. (2) At a primary care level, education programmes and patient self-administered questionnaires identified patients with potential IA for referral to rheumatology. Many guidelines emphasis Conclusions This review identified three main areas of delay to care for patients with IA and potential solutions for each. A co-ordinated effort will be required by the rheumatology and primary care community to address these effectively.
Original languageUndefined/Unknown
Pages (from-to)13-22
Number of pages10
JournalAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Volume72
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Research programs

  • EMC MUSC-01-31-01

Cite this