An environmental scan and appraisal of patient online resources for managing rheumatoid arthritis flares.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct an environmental scan and appraisal of online patient resources to support rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flare self-management.

METHODS: We used the Google search engine (last search March 2023) using terms: rheumatoid arthritis and flare management. Additional searches targeted major arthritis organizations, regional, national, and international resources. Appraisal of the resources was conducted by two research team members and one patient partner to assess the understandability and actionability of the resource using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT). Resources rating ≥ 60% in both domains by either the research team, or the patient partner were further considered for content review. During content review, resources were excluded for product advertisements, inaccurate information, or use of non-inclusive language. If content review criteria were met, resources were designated as "highly recommended" if both patient partners and researchers' PEMAT ratings were ≥ 60%. If PEMAT ratings were divergent and had a rating ≥ 60% from only one group of reviewers, the resource was designated 'acceptable'.

RESULTS: We identified 44 resources and 12 were excluded as they did not pass the PEMAT assessment. Fourteen resources received ratings ≥ 60% on understandability and actionability from both researchers and patient partners, and 10 of these were retained following content review as "highly recommended" flare resources. Of the 18 divergent PEMAT ratings, 8 resources were retained as "acceptable" following content review.

CONCLUSION: There is high variability in the actionability and understandability of RA flare materials online and only 23% of resources were highly recommended by researchers and patient partners.