Patient and HCP priorities when switching advanced therapies in PsA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding patient and healthcare professional priorities and decision-making when switching advanced therapies for psoriatic arthritis: a multicentre qualitative focus group study
IRAS ID
368577
Contact name
James Kimpton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to understand how people with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and healthcare professionals make decisions about changing (“switching”) advanced treatments.
PsA is a lifelong inflammatory condition that causes joint pain, swelling, and stiffness, affecting around 190,000 people in the UK. Up to half of people with PsA require treatment with advanced, high-cost medicines called biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs). However, approximately 40% of patients stop or switch these treatments within one year due to side effects, reduced effectiveness, or other health conditions, and most patients switch treatment within three years. Deciding when and how to switch treatment can be difficult, particularly because it is often unclear whether worsening symptoms represent a temporary loss of treatment response or a more sustained loss of response.
This study will use online group discussions (focus groups) to explore experiences and decision-making. We will include adults with PsA who have experience of switching treatments, alongside healthcare professionals involved in prescribing and managing these therapies. Around four patient focus groups and four healthcare professional focus groups (6–8 participants per group) will take part.
Participants will be asked about their experiences of treatment, how they recognise changes in symptoms or treatment response, and the factors that influence decisions about changing treatment. Discussions will be audio-recorded, transcribed, and anonymised. The data will be analysed using qualitative research methods to identify key themes and differences in perspectives between patients and healthcare professionals.
This is a low-risk study with no clinical interventions or changes to patient care. The findings will improve understanding of treatment decision-making in PsA, support better shared decision-making between patients and clinicians, and may help inform future clinical guidance and patient information resources.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SC/0248
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jul 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion