Pain Interference in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: Despite treatment advances, pain remains a serious problem for many children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). To better understand pain in children with JIA and identify potentially modifiable factors, this study evaluated Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS) Pediatric Pain Interference (PI) and its relationships with other pain measures and demographic, clinical, psychosocial, and functional variables. METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational, multi-center study used descriptive statistics and a mix of bivariate and multivariable analyses to describe PI and characterize relationships with other measures and variables. RESULTS: Among 355 children with JIA, 27.0% reported moderate or severe PI and 13.3% reported daily pain. PI correlated with other pain measures. Increasing age, decreasing disease duration, and increasing number of active joints, as well as presence of active disease, steroid treatment, and biologic treatment, were associated with greater PI. All PROMIS psychosocial and functional measures were associated with PI in the expected direction except for PROMIS Pediatric Physical Activity, which showed no association. In multivariable analyses, only PROMIS Fatigue, PROMIS Mobility, and the exploratory interaction of PROMIS Anxiety and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug treatment were significant. CONCLUSION: Moderate and severe PI was prevalent in this sample of children with JIA. PI increased with age and indicators of disease activity, but more strongly with increasing fatigue and decreasing mobility. Findings support the use of PI as a short, easily administered multidimensional pain measure as part of routine clinical care. Fatigue, mobility, and disease activity should be further assessed when PI is high.

Endpoints and outcomes for localized scleroderma/morphea: a scoping literature review.

BACKGROUND: Current treatment for localized scleroderma (LS) has been shown to halt disease activity, but little is still known about patient experiences with these treatments, nor is there consensus about optimal measurement strategies for future clinical trials. OBJECTIVE: Conduct a scoping review of the literature for the types of outcomes and measures (i.e. clinician-, patient-, and caregiver-reported) utilized in published treatment studies of LS. METHODS: Online databases were searched for articles related to the evaluation of treatment efficacy in LS with a special focus on pediatrics. RESULTS: Of the 168 studies, the most common outcomes used were cutaneous disease activity and damage measured via clinician-reported assessments. The most frequently cited measure was the Localized Scleroderma Cutaneous Assessment Tool (LoSCAT). Few patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) were used. LIMITATIONS: Some studies only vaguely reported the measures utilized, and the review yielded a low number of clinical trials. CONCLUSION: In addition to evaluating disease activity with clinician-reported measures, the field could obtain critical knowledge on the patient experience by including high-quality PROMs of symptoms and functioning. More clinical trials using a variety of outcomes and measures are necessary to determine the most suitable course of treatment for LS patients.

What facets of physical function are most important to adults diagnosed with cancer?

PURPOSE: Successful patient-focused drug development involves selecting and measuring outcomes in clinical trials that are important to patients. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration's definition of clinical benefit includes how patients feel, function, or survive. Patients are considered the experts in describing how they feel and function. In cancer trials, patient-reported measures of physical function provide insight into how patients function at baseline, benefit from the interventions being studied, and the impact of treatment side effects. We conducted a qualitative study with adults diagnosed with cancer to describe facets of physical function from their perspective and to identify which facets are most important to this patient population. METHODS: Using concept elicitation and cognitive interviewing techniques, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 72 adults ≥ 22 years of age with cancer who received treatment with an anticancer drug or biologic within six months of the interview. We selected participants using purposive sampling with the aim to elicit diverse experiences regarding how they may interpret and respond to questions related to physical function. Participants were presented with patient-reported outcome (PRO) items representative of PRO measures used in cancer and general populations. RESULTS: Five facets of how physical function relates to activities were defined from the patient perspective: ability, difficulty, limitation, satisfaction, and completion. More than half of the participants indicated that ability was the most important facet of physical function. The next most important were satisfaction (18.3%), limitation (14.1%), difficulty (5.6%), and completion (2.8%). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that we must be more specific about the facets of physical function that we set out to assess when we use PRO measures to describe the patient experience. These results have implications for the specificity of physical function facets when measured in cancer clinical trials.

Facets of physical function assessed by patient-reported outcome measures in oncology research.

PURPOSE: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has identified physical functioning (PF) as a core patient-reported outcome (PRO) in cancer clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to identify PF PRO measures (PROMs) in adult cancer populations and classify the PROMs by content covered (facets of PF) in each measure. METHODS: As part of the Patient Reports of Physical Functioning Study (PROPS) research program, we conducted a targeted literature review to identify PROMs that could be used in clinical trials to evaluate PF from the patient perspective. Next, we convened an advisory panel to conduct a modified, reactive, Delphi study to reach consensus on which PF facets are assessed by PROMs identified in the review. The panel engaged in a "card sort" activity to classify PROM items by PF facets. Consensus was reached when 80% of panel members agreed that at least one facet was being measured by each PROM item. RESULTS: The literature review identified 13 PROMs that met inclusion criteria. Eight facets of PF were identified for classification in the Delphi study: ability, completion, difficulty, limitation, quality, frequency, bother, and satisfaction. Through two rounds, the panel documented and classified conceptual approaches for each PRO item presented. The most prevalent PF facets were ability, difficulty, and limitation. CONCLUSION: Classifying PF PROMs by PF facets will promote more consistent communication regarding the aspects of PF represented in each PROM, helping researchers prioritize measures for inclusion in cancer clinical trials.

Construct validity of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Paediatric measures in juvenile idiopathic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus: cross-sectional evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate construct validity of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Paediatric measures of symptoms and functioning against measures of disease activity among youth with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). DESIGN: Cross-sectional associations among PROMIS measures and clinical metrics of disease activity were estimated. SETTING: Seven clinical sites of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Alliance (CARRA) in the USA. PARTICIPANTS: Youth aged 8-17 years enrolled in the CARRA Registry. INTERVENTION: PROMIS measures were collected and associations with clinical measures of disease activity estimated, by condition, in bivariate and multivariable analyses with adjustment for sociodemographics, insurance status, medications and disease duration. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PROMIS Paediatric measures of mobility, physical activity, fatigue, pain interference, family relationships, peer relationships, depressive symptoms, psychological stress, anxiety, and meaning and purpose, and clinical metrics of disease. RESULTS: Among 451 youth (average age 13.8 years, 71% female), most (n=393, 87%) had a JIA diagnosis and the remainder (n=58, 13%) had SLE. Among participants with JIA, those with moderate/high compared with low/inactive disease had, on average, worse mobility (multivariable regression coefficient and 95% CIs) (-7.40; -9.30 to -5.50), fatigue (3.22; 1.02 to 5.42), pain interference (4.76; 3.04 to 6.48), peer relationships (-2.58; -4.52 to -1.64), depressive symptoms (3.00; 0.96 to 5.04), anxiety (2.48; 0.40 to 4.56) and psychological stress (2.52; 0.68 to 4.36). For SLE, youth with active versus inactive disease had on average worse mobility (-5.07; -10.15 to 0.01) but PROMIS Paediatric measures did not discriminate participants with active and inactive disease in adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Seven PROMIS Paediatric measures discriminated between active and inactive disease in youth with JIA. Results advance the usefulness of PROMIS for understanding well-being and improving interventions for youth with JIA, but larger studies are needed to determine utility in SLE cohorts. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U19AR069522).