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Objectives: Many trials have shown that intensive management is effective in patients with early active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). But its benefits are unproven for the large number of RA patients seen in routine care who have established, moderately active RA and are already taking conventional synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs). The TITRATE trial studied whether these patients also benefit from intensive management and, in particular, achieve more remissions., Methods: A 12-month multicentre individually randomised trial compared standard care with monthly intensive management appointments which was delivered by specially trained healthcare professionals and incorporated monthly clinical assessments, medication titration and psychosocial support. The primary outcome was 12-month remission assessed using the Disease Activity Score for 28 joints using ESR (DAS28-ESR). Secondary outcomes included fatigue, disability, harms and healthcare costs. Intention-to-treat multivariable logistic- and linear regression analyses compared treatment arms with multiple imputation used for missing data., Results: 459 patients were screened and 335 were randomised (168 intensive management; 167 standard care); 303 (90%) patients provided 12-month outcomes. Intensive management increased DAS28-ESR 12-month remissions compared to standard care (32% vs 18%, p = 0.004). Intensive management also significantly increased remissions using a range of alternative remission criteria and increased patients with DAS28-ESR low disease activity scores. (48% vs 32%, p = 0.005). In addition it substantially reduced fatigue (mean difference -18; 95% CI: -24, -11, p<0.001). There was no evidence that serious adverse events (intensive management =15 vs standard care =11) or other adverse events (114 vs 151) significantly increase with intensive management., Interpretation: The trial shows that intensive management incorporating psychosocial support delivered by specially trained healthcare professions is effective in moderately active established RA. More patients achieve remissions, there were greater improvements in fatigue, and there were no more harms., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest A list of investigators with competing interests and the details they have declared is as follows: David L Scott has received funding from Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited for advice on using biosimilars. Dr James Galloway has received personal fees and non-financial support from Abbvie, personal fees from BMS, grants and personal fees from Celgene, personal fees from Janssen, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Pfizer, personal fees from UCB. Dr Elena Nikiphorou has received speaker honoraria/participated in advisory boards for Pfizer, AbbVie, Sanofi, Gilead, Celltrion and Lilly. Professor Jackie Sturt has received personal fees from Eli Lilly and grants and personal fees from Spirit Healthcare. The following authors declare that they have no competing interests: Dr Naomi Martin, Fowzia Ibrahim, Dr Brian Tom, Professor Allan Wailoo, Dr Harry Hill, Dr Louise Prothero, Dr Rhiannon R Baggott, Dr Sofia Georgopoulou, Ailsa Bosworth, Isabel Neatrour, Professor Frances MK Williams, Dr Ruth Williams and Dr Heidi Lempp., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Psychological interventions are an important but often overlooked adjunctive treatment option for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Findings from systematic reviews of psychological interventions for this patient group are conflicting. A systematic review of reviews can explain inconsistencies between studies and provide a clearer understanding of the effects of interventions., Objectives: To: 1) determine the effectiveness of psychological interventions in improving biopsychosocial outcomes for adults with rheumatoid arthritis, 2) determine the relationship between the intensity of the psychological interventions (number of sessions, duration of sessions, duration of intervention) on outcomes, and 3) assess the impact of comparator group (usual care, education only) on outcomes., Design: We conducted a systematic review of reviews using the following inclusion criteria: 1) randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions (including cognitive behavioural therapy, supportive counselling, psychotherapy, self-regulatory techniques, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and disclosure therapy) provided as an adjunct to medication, 2) included rheumatoid arthritis patients aged ≥ 18 years, 3) reported findings for at least 1 of the primary outcomes: pain, fatigue, psychological status, functional disability and disease activity and 4) were published in English between January 2000 and March 2015 (updated January 2018)., Data Sources: We searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. Reference lists were searched for additional reviews., Review Methods: Study selection and 50% of the quality assessments were performed by two independent reviewers. Methodological quality was measured using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews checklist. Data extraction was conducted by one reviewer using a predesigned data extraction form., Results: Eight systematic reviews met inclusion criteria (one review was excluded due to its low-quality score). Small post intervention improvements in patient global assessment, functional disability, pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression were observed. The effect on coping, self-efficacy and physical activity was greater. Improvements in depression, coping and physical activity were maintained (8.5-14 months). Interventions delivered over a longer period with a maintenance component appeared more effective. Attention, education, and placebo control groups produced some improvements but not as large as those produced by the psychological interventions., Conclusions: Psychological interventions result in small to moderate improvements in biopsychosocial outcomes for patients with rheumatoid arthritis in addition to those achieved by standard care. Several priorities for future research were identified, including determining the cost effectiveness of non-psychologically trained health professionals delivering psychological interventions., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Uncontrolled active rheumatoid arthritis can lead to increasing disability and reduced quality of life over time. 'Treating to target' has been shown to be effective in active established disease and also in early disease. However, there is a lack of nationally agreed treatment protocols for patients with established rheumatoid arthritis who have intermediate disease activity. This trial is designed to investigate whether intensive management of disease leads to a greater number of remissions at 12 months. Levels of disability and quality of life, and acceptability and cost-effectiveness of the intervention will also be examined., Methods: The trial is a 12-month, pragmatic, randomised, open-label, two-arm, parallel-group, multicentre trial undertaken at specialist rheumatology centres across England. Three hundred and ninety-eight patients with established rheumatoid arthritis will be recruited. They will currently have intermediate disease activity (disease activity score for 28 joints assessed using an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 3.2 to 5.1 with at least three active joints) and will be taking at least one disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug. Participants will be randomly selected to receive intensive management or standard care. Intensive management will involve monthly clinical reviews with a specialist health practitioner, where drug treatment will be optimised and an individualised treatment support programme delivered based on several principles of motivational interviewing to address identified problem areas, such as pain, fatigue and adherence. Standard care will follow standard local pathways and will be in line with current English guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Patients will be assessed initially and at 6 and 12 months through self-completed questionnaires and clinical evaluation., Discussion: The trial will establish whether the known benefits of intensive treatment strategies in active rheumatoid arthritis are also seen in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis who have moderately active disease. It will evaluate both the clinical and cost-effectiveness of intensive treatment., Trial Registration: Current Controlled Trials, ID: ISRCTN70160382 . Registered on 16 January 2014.

Background: Self-management is a key recommendation for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Educational materials may support self-management, and increasingly patients are becoming involved with the development of these materials. The TITRATE trial compares the effectiveness of intensive management to standard care in patients with moderate RA across England. As part of the intensive management intervention, participants are given a handbook., Aim and Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a handbook to support the intensive management. The objectives were to: (i) involve patients in the identification of relevant information for inclusion in the TITRATE handbook; (ii) ensure the content of the handbook is acceptable and accessible., Design: We held an audio-taped workshop with RA patients. The transcript of the workshop was analysed using thematic content analysis., Results: Five main themes were identified as follows: 'rheumatoid arthritis treatment, perceptions of rheumatoid arthritis, the importance of individualized goals, benefits of self-management and the patient handbook'. Feedback from the workshop was incorporated into the handbook, and patients' anonymous testimonies were added., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that patient contribution to the development of educational material to support intensive management of RA is both feasible and valuable. A qualitative evaluation of the use and impact of the handbook with patients and practitioners is planned on completion of the TITRATE trial., (© 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Advances in pharmacological treatment options in RA have led to a dramatic potential for improvement in patients' physical and psychological status. Despite advances, poor outcomes, including fatigue, pain, reduced physical activity and quality of life, are still observed. Reasons include non-adherence to medication, insufficient knowledge about the disease and lack of support in coping and effectively self-managing their condition. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a person-centred approach that relies on collaboration and empathy aiming to elicit a person's own motivation for behaviour change. It has been implemented in a variety of long-term conditions, addressing issues such as lifestyle changes with beneficial effects, but it is yet to be widely recognized and adopted in the field of rheumatology. This review will explain the techniques underpinning MI and the rationale for adopting this approach in rheumatology with the aim to increase medication adherence and physical activity and improve patients' coping strategies for pain and fatigue., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)