Implication of nurse intervention on engagement with urate-lowering drugs: A qualitative study of participants in a RCT of nurse led care.

Objectives: To explore patient perception of the role of a nurse-led complex package of care in facilitating engagement with urate-lowering therapies (ULTs) in the management of gout.

Methods: Thirty people who had participated in a randomised controlled trial investigating the effect of a nurse-led complex package of care for gout, were purposively sampled and interviewed between 18-26 months after the end of the trial. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using a modified grounded-theory approach.

Symptoms in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

An increasing interest in treating individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to prevent the development of this chronic condition has focussed attention on the identification of risk factors of this disease. Most patients who develop RA progress through a preceding symptomatic phase that may take the form of arthralgia, palindromic rheumatism or unclassified arthritis before a disease currently classifiable as RA is established. An understanding of symptoms that identify individuals as being at risk of RA is a critical issue.