PATIENT-REPORTED EXPERIENCE in IMMUNE MEDIATED INFLAMMATORY DISEASES (IMID) in THECONTEXT of the COVID-19 PANDEMIC: ACCESSIBILITY and CONTINUITY of CARE

ABSTRACT

Background: The lockdown and mobility restrictions in early COVID19 pandemic had a great impact in chronic patient care due to limited access and scheduled visits. In our hospital, coordinated non-pharmacological interventions (NPI) were designed in Rheumatology and Pharmacy services to maintain the accessibility and continuity of care for patients with IMID. Objectives: To evaluate the patient reported experience (PRE), health status and quality of life in Rheumatology outpatient IMID subjects since March 14, 2020 when lockdown was imposed and during subsequent restrictions, related to the healthcare team and medications accessibility, and continuity of care. Methods: Observational study, using a patient survey. Adult patients attending the rheumatology outpatient clinic between Nov 2, 2020 to Feb 13, 2021, with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), spondylarthritis (SpA) or systemic autoimmune diseases (SAD), with at least 1 year from diagnosis and 1 month of treatment with conventional synthetic (cs) targeted synthetic (ts) or biological (b) disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD). Face to face or phone interviews were conducted using an ad hoc designed questionnaire that included COVID19 related questions, the 11 IEXPAC scale items (5 point Likert scale ranging from never to always) (www.iexpac.org), and 4 items (5 points, very good to very bad) of the global scale PROMIS 10 (Patient-Reported Outcomes, PRO). All questions refer to the patient's experience during the 6 months prior to data collection. Results: From 174 screening patients, 158 completed the survey, mainly woman (66.5%) with a median age of 60 (IQR 47-69,3) years. The most frequent diagnosis was RA (43%) followed by ESAP (35%), EAS (22%) and PsA (13%). 46.8% of the patients have been prescribed b or ts DMARD and 53.2% sc DMARD, 32.9% in combination. From 158, 39 persons requested healthcare for COVID-19 related symptoms and diagnosis was confrmed in 17 (10,8%). Just 2 patients required hospital admission. Clinical control and continuity of care for COVID19+ patients were carried out from their primary care center and by phone consultation. Some key results of the survey are displayed in Table 1. Conclusion: Lessons have learned during the COVID19 lockdown and restrictions by assessing patients' health status and patients-reported experience. Coordinated NPI such as medication monitoring and home delivery, appointment reorganization and protocolized phone visits can result in a good patient perception and medication adherence whilst receiving care in a challenging situation.