STRATEGIES addressing fatigue, lived experiences of caregivers, cost-effectiveness of affected person schooling, and entry to rheumatology care have been introduced as we speak at EULAR 2026, London, UK, in a bid to enhance the standard of lifetime of sufferers with rheumatic and musculoskeletal ailments (RMD).
RMDs profoundly influence every day life, limiting each work potential and participation in on a regular basis actions.
Fatigue
Fatigue is a typical and burdensome symptom for folks with inflammatory arthritis.1
While tailor-made bodily exercise and cognitive behavioural approaches are identified to assist, little is thought in regards to the influence of mixing the 2.
At EULAR 2026, Astrid Damgaard introduced findings from a feasibility research involving 29 sufferers with inflammatory arthritis in Denmark and Sweden.
The analysis group discovered that the COMbined Fatigue Intervention (COMFI),2 a method designed to combine the 2 efficient approaches, could possibly be delivered efficiently in each international locations.
After a follow-up interval of six months, outcomes indicated an inclination towards decreased fatigue, with noticed adjustments assembly the minimal clinically necessary distinction in each international locations in all fatigue measurements, together with the subscales for fatigue severity, influence, and coping.
Authors concluded that the method was possible to ship to folks with inflammatory arthritis and fatigue.
Caregiver Experiences
RMD administration additionally usually requires sustained help from caregivers to allow every day functioning.
Talking as we speak at EULAR 2026, Rikke Helene Moe, Vice-President of Well being Professionals in Rheumatology, EULAR, Kilchberg, Switzerland, advised reporters: “We’re possibly not so good at together with affected person households, and doing analysis on how their illness and administration impacts the household.”
She pointed to an Italian phenomenological research introduced at EULAR, by which researchers examined the lived experiences of 25 members of the family and first casual caregivers.
Moe defined: “They interviewed 25 caregivers, largely spouses and companions, they usually described that they expertise emotional misery, emotions of helplessness, and guilt that was troublesome to deal with.”
On the onset of sickness, many individuals reported troublesome selections and compromises, with 26.7% citing main life adjustments or sacrifices and 52% reporting predominantly detrimental feelings, together with unhappiness, anxiousness, fatigue, and emotional overload.
The event of caregiver-focused assessments and tailor-made psychosocial and academic interventions might reportedly enhance their wellbeing, improve affected person outcomes, and help extra holistic and person-centred care.
Diagnostic Delays
Additionally amongst affected person expertise obstacles cited at EULAR 2026 was diagnostic delays.
For instance, there’s a world imply delay to analysis for axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) of seven.4 years.3
A group in Canada introduced preliminary outcomes from the FASTRAX research, trialling an interdisciplinary mannequin to enhance entry to rheumatology care and promote early identification.
The method leverages skilled prolonged scope suppliers and rheumatology fellows to shortly display sufferers with persistent low again ache.
Thus far, 179 sufferers have accomplished the screening course of throughout three research websites with a median wait time to evaluation of 28 days.
Of these, 22.9% have been recognized with axSpA, with a imply time to analysis of 12.1 years.
General, the quantity wanted to display throughout the province was 5 sufferers with persistent again ache to determine one affected person with axSpA, with some variation throughout sties.
Notably, nevertheless, traditionally axSpA represents roughly 5% of these with persistent again ache, suggesting a have to display roughly 20 folks to detect one axSpA case.4
Lead creator Laura Passalent, College of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, mentioned: “The mannequin is legitimate and delivers fast entry to care, with referral wait occasions a lot lower than the provincial median.
“Time to analysis stays extended, however that is anticipated to lower because the mannequin positive factors consciousness amongst referring physicians and matures over time, permitting for extra focused rheumatology referrals.”
References
1 Dures E et al. Fatigue in inflammatory arthritis. Greatest Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2020;34(2):101526.
2 Skivington Ok et al. A brand new framework for creating and evaluating advanced interventions: replace of Medical Analysis Council steerage. Int J Nurs Stud 2024;154:104705.
3 Poddubnyy D et al. Diagnostic delay in sufferers from the Worldwide Map of Axial Spondyloarthritis: geographic, sociodemographic and disease-related components. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2025;64(4):1873–9.
4 Reveille JD et al. Prevalence of axial spondylarthritis in america: estimates from a cross-sectional survey. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2012;64(6):905–10.
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