The CONTAIN study, which seeks to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on the health of patients with musculoskeletal conditions, is set to open to respondents.
From today participants will receive a request to complete a short online questionnaire, with some of those participants then being invited to take part in further in-depth interviews. Patients from three previous studies will be eligible to take part and will be contacted by post or email. These studies include the British Society for Rheumatology registers in axial spondyloarthritis (BSRBR-AS) and psoriatic arthritis (BSR-PsA) as well as the “Maintaining Musculoskeletal Health” (MAmMOTH) study which involved patients with pain and other related symptoms.
The questionnaire will cover a range of aspects of patients’ current health, how this might have changed since they were last surveyed and specifically how it might have been affected by the imposition of lockdown conditions in the UK. Many of these questions will follow up responses to previously returned questionnaires, allowing researchers to reflect upon any recent changes in the context of a longer history of survey responses. The questionnaire will also cover topics novel to the current situation, such as how the pandemic has affected the delivery of healthcare services, and how patients work has been affected by social distancing measures.
Professor Macfarlane (Professor of Epidemiology) who is Chief Investigator of the study said “In addition to research addressing COVID19 directly, it is just as important that we undertake research together with patients who have long term conditions and whose care has been disrupted over the past months. We want to understand how this may affected their health and seek their views on future care”.
The study is funded by Versus Arthritis and the British Society for Rheumatology.