Trust performance in managing inflammatory arthritis over time in England and Wales: a latent class analysis approach

To evaluate trust-level performance in time to initiation of DMARD therapy in patients with early inflammatory arthritis (EIA), with identification of the change in performance trajectories over time and investigation of trust characteristics associated with this change.

We included 130 trusts from the UK contributing to the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA) from 2018 to 2020. The primary outcome was days from referral to initiation of DMARD therapy in patients with EIA. Latent class growth mixture models were applied to identify distinct groups of trusts with similar trajectories of performance change over time. We used mixed effects linear and multinomial logistic regression models to evaluate the association between delay in treatment and trust-level characteristics.

The mean time to DMARD initiation was 53 days (s.d. 18), with an average 0.3-day decrease with each month over time. Four latent trajectories were identified in our cohort, with >77% of individual trusts showing ongoing improvements in decreasing treatment waiting times. Prior to separating by latent class, time to DMARD initiation was shorter in trusts with higher rheumatology staffing, a local EIA treatment pathway and those with access to musculoskeletal ultrasound. Trusts with more nurses in the rheumatology department were less likely to be in the worst performance group [odds ratio 0.69 (95% CI 0.49, 0.93)].

In this cohort study, we observed a reduction in treatment waiting time over time. Trusts with better staffed and improved EIA clinical structure are likely to initiate definitive treatment earlier in patients with EIA.