title: Improving inflammatory arthritis management through tighter monitoring of patients and the use of innovative electronic tools.
abstract: Treating to target by monitoring disease activity and adjusting therapy to attain remission or low disease activity has been shown to lead to improved outcomes in chronic rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Patient-reported outcomes, used in conjunction with clinical measures, add an important perspective of disease activity as perceived by the patient. Several validated PROs are available for inflammatory arthritis, and advances in electronic patient monitoring tools are helping patients with chronic diseases to self-monitor and assess their symptoms and health. Frequent patient monitoring could potentially lead to the early identification of disease flares or adverse events, early intervention for patients who may require treatment adaptation, and possibly reduced appointment frequency for those with stable disease. A literature search was conducted to evaluate the potential role of patient self-monitoring and innovative monitoring of tools in optimising disease control in inflammatory arthritis. Experience from the treatment of congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension shows improved outcomes with remote electronic self-monitoring by patients. In inflammatory arthritis, electronic self-monitoring has been shown to be feasible in patients despite manual disability and to be acceptable to older patients. Patients' self-assessment of disease activity using such methods correlates well with disease activity assessed by rheumatologists. This review also describes several remote monitoring tools that are being developed and used in inflammatory arthritis, offering the potential to improve disease management and reduce pressure on specialists.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, IQ healthcare, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Rheumatology, Bernhoven, Uden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Riel
authors.affiliation: Department Internal Medicine, Rheumatology , Schlosspark Klinik University Medicine Berlin , Berlin , Germany.
authors.forename: Rieke
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3395-4412
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alten
authors.affiliation: Département de Rhumatologie , Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier Université , Montpellier , France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Combe
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine , Kazan State Medical University , Kazan , Russia.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abdulganieva
authors.affiliation: Pfizer Regional Medical Team , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bousquet
authors.affiliation: School of Healthcare Sciences, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University , Wales , UK.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Courtenay
authors.affiliation: Pfizer , Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Curiale
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology , Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari , Sabadell , Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Centeno
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology , Martina Hansens Hospital , Bærum , Norway.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Haugeberg
authors.affiliation: Landesklinikum Stockerau, Center for Rheumatology Lower Austria,Stockerau, Austria; Karl Landsteiner Institute for Clinical Rheumatology, Stockerau, Austria; Department for Rheumatology and Immunology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leeb
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine , South Karelia Central Hospital , Lappeenranta , Finland.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Puolakka
authors.affiliation: University of Genoa and Istituto Giannina Gaslini , Genoa , Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ravelli
authors.affiliation: Landesklinikum Stockerau, Center for Rheumatology Lower Austria,Stockerau, Austria; Karl Landsteiner Institute for Clinical Rheumatology, Stockerau, Austria.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rintelen
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine , University of Milan , Milano , Italy.
authors.forename: Piercarlo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sarzi-Puttini
keywords: Disease Activity; Patient perspective; Rheumatoid Arthritis