NCT06579222

Comorbidity Management in Rheumatic Disease.

Comorbidity Management in Rheumatic Disease: Assessing a Potential Care Gap in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 199 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Western University, Canada · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease where the immune system attacks the body by mistake, causing inflammation of the joints and other body parts. People with rheumatoid arthritis are at higher risk of infections, heart problems, and bone issues compared to others. They regularly see rheumatologists, arthritis care physicians, to manage their disease. However, managing these other health problems alongside their main treatment is difficult for rheumatologists due to limited resources. This clinical study is being conducted to see if adding a family doctor to a team of rheumatologists can help. Rheumatologists will complete a case report form about the patient's health and send them to a special family physician clinic. This clinic will focus on improving vaccination against diseases, heart health, and bone strength. They will check if patients need special vaccines to protect them from infections. They will screen for heart disease using blood pressure measurements, and order blood work for high cholesterol and diabetes if needed. They will also review bone health and send people for tests to check their bone density if needed. A change in routines and medications may be recommended after their checkup. Rheumatologists will complete another case report about the patient's health 6 months after their family doctor appointment. The study will assess how these markers of health management improve after this family doctor joins the team. It hopes to prove that this new way of working in the community will give people with rheumatoid arthritis better protection against certain infections, heart problems and weak bones.

Conditions

• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Comorbidities and Coexisting Conditions

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Primary Care Rheumatology Family Physician Consultation	The participant will be booked with a primary care rheumatology family physician for rheumatoid arthritis comorbidity screening. They will complete weight, height, blood pressure measurement, assess for risk factors for dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, bone mineral density loss and vaccine preventable infectious diseases.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-05-01
• Primary completion: 2026-06-19
• Completion: 2026-12-19
• First posted: 2024-08-30
• Last updated: 2025-10-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada