A QUALITATIVE STUDY EXPLORING DISTRESS IN PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS Chisholm A 1,5, Pearce CJ 1,5, Roberts C 2, Chinoy H 3,4, Warren RB 1,4, Bundy C 1,5. 1 Manchester Centre for Dermatology Research, 2 Manchester Medical School, 3 Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, 4 Salford Royal NHS Foundation, 5 Manchester Centre for Health Psychology. University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.
Background High distress levels in inflammatory arthritis 1 High distress levels in psoriasis 2,3 (depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, stigma) but often goes undetected in clinical practice 4 1.8 million people in the UK diagnosed with psoriasis - 30% of people with psoriasis develop PsA 5 1 Kotsis et al 2012; 2 Kurd et al., 2010; 3 Singhal et al., 2014; 4 Richards et al., 2004; 5 Gladman et al, 2005;
Background PsA characterised by joint inflammation, tender/swollen joints, stiffness (prolonged in mornings), and pain 6 Substantial physical, psychological and social impact upon patients lives 7 People with PsA are susceptible to distress related to psoriasis and arthritis but it is unknown how people experience living with PsA and what drives distress directly related to this condition 6 Yamamoto et al, 2011; 7 Brodszky et al, 2010
Research question: What drives distress in people living with PsA? 4
Method Recruitment: Patients diagnosed with PsA and who attended a combined dermatology-rheumatology clinic invited to take part in an in-depth, semi-structured, qualitiative research interview. Interviews conducted at patients homes, hospital, or via phone. Digitally audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Interview guide structured around illness representations model 8 : i.e. beliefs about PsA cause, identity, timeline, control/cure, consequences, emotions, and illness coherence. We explored patients feelings and thoughts about PsA, experiences of living with and self-management strategies for PsA. 8 Leventhal et al, 1984
Method Participants: N=22 Mean age = 44years; range 27-60 12 males, 10 females Receiving treatment in specialist centre in Northwest UK Thematic analysis and principles of framework analysis 8,9 Two authors independently coded the dataset and emergent themes were defined through group discussions with the research team. Stage 1: Leventhal et al. s model used as initial coding framework to identify key beliefs about PsA Stage 2: Patterns across the data were then organised into emergent themes 8 Braun & Clarke, 2006; 9 Richie & Spencer, 1994
1. Consequences Results 4 main themes 2. The influence of other people 3. Put up and shut up 4. Why me? 7
1. Consequences Patients felt frustrated and hopeless about how physically restricting PsA is. They feared their functioning would deteriorate progressively and that they would have to depend upon other people. ANTICIPATORY FEAR OF DETERIORATION I m like, am I going to end up in one of those motorised scooters, you know...i don t know if it s a degenerative...nobody has ever said anything...i m gonna end up in a wheelchair, it s just my worry (ID15) FRUSTRATION When it s stressing me out or, it makes me upset that I can t do things, especially with my little boy...it makes me frustrated that I can t do what I want to do (ID9) FEARING DEPENDANCE I m thinking I m going to be either a drain or strain, either on society and my family or on the service itself (ID1) HOPELESSNESS It was destroying me really, and I just got to a point where I just thought, I can t go on with this (ID3) 8
2. The influence of other people. Patients described varied degrees of social support, and often highlighted that people don t always take their condition seriously. ISOLATION I m fast learning you have to look out for yourself, cause no one else looks out for you, you know (ID4) FAMILY BLAME/JUDGEMENT I always found walking difficult and when I went to the chiropodist the first time on my own they told me I had deformed feet My mother went mad. She swore it was me screwing my feet into shoes (ID11) DISMISSED BY HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS I'd gone to see a GP and been dismissed and told, don't be silly, there's nothing wrong with you, even though I said, I've got psoriasis and there's a history of psoriasis and arthritis in my family. I had one GP say to me, I don't know what you're making a fuss about, and I was like, I can't use my hands in my morning. (ID12) 9
3. Put up and shut up. Patients described hiding their distress from those close around them, often to reduce negative affect, protect personal independence, and to fight their condition. BRAIN VS BODY Absolute agony,and my brain s telling me, stop, stop, but I m thinking, no, the weather s good, get some washing out (ID11) AVIODANCE COPING Take as many painkillers as you can, try and get as much sleep as you can, because when you re asleep you re not in pain...when I m bad, I wish I could sleep 24 hours a day. (ID13) MY RESPONSIBILITY: HIDING DISTRESS Oh, I m very good at hiding things (ID4) IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT The polite British thing is to say, oh yeah I'm fine thanks. But actually I'm thinking, every bone in my body hurts and I'm so tired I want to cry. (ID12) 10
4. Why me? Patients expressed a deep sense of injustice, described ways in which PsA threatened their identity and often made negative comparisons with other people. OLD BEYOND MY TIME It was like being trapped in an old woman s body at the time, and I was 36, I should have been in the prime and I couldn t even walk (ID10) SOCIAL COMPARISON You feel envious of people that are living the life that you should be living (ID10) SPOILED IDENTITY I don t have any friends...i feel so disconnected with them, I don t feel like I belong to them in the same group, or as young people (ID8) INJUSTICE You just lay there and you re thinking why me? What have I done? What have I done in my life? You know I ve not done wrong, I m not a bad lad, I ve not killed anybody (ID13) 11
Discussion As in psoriasis and inflammatory arthritis we showed high levels of distress in patients living with PsA also. Their distress relates to: Fears about the consequences and timeline of the condition Reactions of people around them Coping style Feelings associated with a loss of personal identity 12
Discussion Salient emotions (e.g. fear / hopelessness), perceptions (e.g. I should cope with PsA alone) and misperceptions (e.g. my functioning will deteriorate exponentially) These could be addressed by healthcare professionals in order to better identify and manage distress with these patients. Further work: - Systematically investigate levels of distress in individuals - Recommendations for healthcare professionals regarding how to measure and manage distress with individuals 13
Thank you for listening questions? Email: Anna.Chisholm@manchester.ac.uk Acknowledgements / PsA research team: Christina Pearce Chris Roberts Hector Chinoy Richard Warren Chris Bundy Thank you to all the patients who took the time to share their experiences with us. 14
References: 1. Kotsis K, Voulgari PV, Tsifetaki N, et al Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms and Illness Perceptions in Psoriatic Arthritis and Associations With Physical Health-Related Quality of Life Arthritis Care & Research Vol. 64, No. 10, October 2012, pp 1593 1601 2. Kurd SK, Troxel AB, Crits-Christoph P, Gelfand JM. The risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality in patients with psoriasis: A population-based cohort study. Archives of dermatology 2010;146(8):891-895 3. Singhal, A., Ross, J., Seminog, O., Hawton, K., & Goldacre, M. J. (2014). Risk of self-harm and suicide in people with specific psychiatric and physical disorders: comparisons between disorders using English national record linkage. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 107(5), 194-204 4. Richards HL, Fortune DG, Weidmann A, Sweeney SK, Griffiths CE. Detection of psychological distress in patients with psoriasis: low consensus between dermatologist and patient. British Journal of Dermatology, 2004;151(6):1227-33. 5. Gladman, D.D., et al., Psoriatic arthritis: epidemiology, clinical features, course, and outcome. Ann Rheum Dis, 2005. 64(Suppl II): p. ii14ii17 6. Yamamoto, T., Psoriatic arthritis: from a dermatological perspective. Eur J Dermatol, 2011;21:660-666. 7. Brodszky, V., et al., Comparison of the Psoriatic Arthritis Quality of Life (PsAQoL) questionnaire, the functional status (HAQ) and utility (EQ5D) measures in psoriatic arthritis: results from a cross-sectional survey. Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, 2010. 39:303-309. 8. Leventhal, H., Nerenz, D., & Steele, D. Illness representations and coping with health threats. In A. Baum & J. Singer (Eds.), A handbook of psychology and health (pp. 219-252): 1984; Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 9. Braun, V. & Clarke, V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2006;3(2), 77-101. 10. Ritchie J, & Spencer E. Qualitative data analysis for applied policy research. In Analyzing Qualitative Data, edited by A. Bryman and R. Burgess. London., 1994 15