Short summary

This is a validation study of the Danish and Swedish versions of The Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire (BRAF-MDQ) and BRAF Numerical Rating Scale version 2 (NRSv2) (BRAFs) for patients with spondyloarthritis. BRAFs will be tested in a cross-sectional study involving patients associated with the Danish Rheumatism Hospital and Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.

Rationale

Fatigue is highly prevalent in people with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and is described as overwhelming, unpredictable, challenging to manage, and impacting all aspects of everyday life. Despite advances in pharmacological treatment over the last decades aiming to reduce disease activity for people with IA, many still struggle with the substantial impact of fatigue on their everyday lives. Several studies have focused on fatigue and fatigue interventions including patients' preferences, recognizing fatigue as an important outcome in the clinic and research. Fatigue is typically assessed using Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and there are several valid and reliable instruments available. The Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire (BRAF MDQ) and Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Numerical Rating Scales (BRAF NRS v2) (BRAFs) are valid and reliable multi-dimensional, disease-specific PROMs for measuring fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They are available in Danish and Swedish. Until now, the Danish and Swedish versions of BRAFs have only been validated for patients with RA. We thus need to validate the BRAFs in other patients with IA such as spondyloarthritis (SpA), which includes diagnoses such as psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis, as they experience similar fatigue.

Description of the cohort

Patients associated to the Danish Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases or Skåne University Hospital, Lund

Data and biological material

Questionnaires

Collaborating researchers and departments

Danish Hospital for Rhematic Dieseases, Sønderborg, Denmark

• Jette Primdahl
• Kirsten Knak

Rheumatology Department, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

• Elisabeth Mogard
• Ann Bremander

Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol and The University of the West of England, Bristol, England

• Emma Dures