PROGRESS: Treatment preferences in SjD v1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Treatment preferences in individuals with primary Sjögren’s Disease

• IRAS ID

  347666

• Contact name

  Gwenda Simons

• Contact email

  g.simons@bham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Birmingham

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Sjögren’s Disease (SjD) is characterised by autoimmune inflammation of moisture-producing glands leading to, for example, a reduction in tears (dry eyes) salivary flow (dry mouth) and sweat. However, it has become clear that many other parts of the body can become affected in many people with SjD during the course of their disease and the significant varied symptom burden can make their serious ill health worse. Currently there are no approved drugs to treat SjD that target the immune system abnormalities that lead to SjD, and this is therefore an area of significant unmet need for patients. In recent years several small randomized clinical trials of such drugs for SjD have shown positive effects of treatment, but this needs to be confirmed in larger studies.
  There is an increasing agreement that the development of new drugs should be informed by an understanding of what aspects of a treatment (such as improvements in symptoms, risks of side effects, how the treatment is taken) are preferred by patients.
  Whilst several studies have investigated patient preferences for treatment of other inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, little is known about the treatment preferences of people with SjD. Studying patient preferences is important to make sure that future clinical trials are designed to measure what matters to patients, and that decisions about what drugs or treatments are approved, take into account what benefits and risks of these treatments are acceptable to patients. Understanding patient preferences can also help develop information for patients and doctors to make treatment choices together. Treatment preferences can impact both willingness to take certain treatments or take part in clinical trials of potential treatments. Therefore, we are planning to study the treatment preferences of people with SjD, using both interviews and a survey.

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  25/YH/0162

• Date of REC Opinion

  31 Jul 2025

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion