Patient-reported Outcome Measures for Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptom Severity: development of a computer adaptive test from an item bank using Raschmeasurement theory (SOCRATES)

This fellowship aims to improve treatment, management and outcomes for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by developing an online Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) tool for symptom severity. This will be done using modern statistical techniques, guided by expert supervision and international collaboration.

This fellowship is important because the developed online PROMs tool will provide true measurements of symptom severity over time to a person's clinical team. This will allow treatments to be managed more effectively and sensitively to the person's needs.

RA is a chronic, disabling, autoimmune disease that can attack the entire body, causing joint pain, loss of motion, inflammation, swelling and redness in affected areas. About 1 % of the population have RA and approximately 15% of these people have severe disease. Women are three times more likely to have this disease than men, with onset most likely between the ages of 40 and 60. No cure is available, so treatment and management are key, and regular monitoring is vital.

People with RA have expressed a desire to have a straightforward online PROM tool for monitoring their own disease at home. However, whilst there are many PROMs for people with RA, they were validated using standard techniques and do not meet strict modern criteria suggested by experts. With the advent of electronic health in the NHS, an online PROM tool has the potential to transform clinical care.