Development of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Distress Scale (RADS): a new tool to identify disease-specific distress in...

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Psychological Medicine
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients often experience psychological distress alongside physical symptoms.
• Disease-specific distress (DSD) is a distinct burden related to the lifelong nature of RA.
• DSD is recognized as a patient-reported outcome in other chronic conditions like diabetes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if people with RA experience DSD.
• To develop a Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) for assessing DSD in RA patients.

Main Methods:

• A five-phased qualitative study involving secondary data analysis of 61 interviews.
• Validation of findings and item generation with a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group (n=4) and cognitive interviews (n=9).
• Development of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Distress Scale (RADS).

Main Results:

• Five themes of rheumatological disease distress were identified and validated.
• The Rheumatoid Arthritis Distress Scale (RADS) was developed with 39 items and 3 supplementary questions.
• Participants found the RADS clear, relevant, and confirmed DSD as a valid concept distinct from depression or anxiety.

Conclusions:

• Disease-specific distress (DSD) is an important aspect of living with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
• The 39-item RADS shows acceptable face and content validity for assessing DSD in RA patients.
• The RADS may serve as a valuable tool for healthcare professionals to identify RA-related distress, pending further psychometric testing.