Clinical trials

Three focus groups will be conducted with patients who have an inflammatory rheumatic condition and have been treated with steroids in the last three years to discuss the impact of steroids on their quality of life, the financial costs to them and costs to the NHS and social care. We will also ask people to give their thoughts on a general patient reported outcome (PRO) questionnaire (the EQ5D) and a steroid-specific questionnaire (the Steroid PRO).

This research aims to underpin qualitative work with people living with a diagnosis of AAV and healthcare professionals working with people living with AAV, to explore different perspectives on Shared Decision Making (SDM) in AAV. The aim is to develop key principles to consider in the future development of shared decision-making tools and interventions for use in clinical practice.

A 60-second video will be created by a high-engaging adult female influencer via a partnership with an influencer agency, Dove/Unilever, and CAR to be delivered by the same influencer to her followers on Instagram and TikTok. The video will focus on sharing an evidence-informed exercise to support challenging appearance ideals and the development of body confidence among adult women. The research will involve three distinct parts: * Conduct an online two-arm randomised control trial (RCT) with between 1000 to 1600 women to evaluate acceptability and efficacy of an influencer-delivered intervention video (versus an active control video) * Explore the feasibility of recruiting participants via influencers on their social media platforms in the same two-arm RCT * Conduct an online survey with 10-20 Canadian influencers recruited via an influencer agency to assess influencer opinions on creating and delivering evidence-based body image and other mental health content on their social media platforms, as well as their views on recruiting their followers for research participation

Assessing the impact of glucocorticoids in children and young people with rheumatic conditions, to develop a patient reported outcome measure (PROM). Glucocorticoids, also known as steroids, are a very effective medication for the treatment of rheumatological conditions. They are used to reduce inflammation, pain and damage to organs. However, steroids can have some unwanted side effects, such as, increased weight, skin changes, feeling anxious, delayed puberty, diabetes and loss of bone mass. These side effects can therefore impact children and young people's health related quality of life (HRQoL). The investigators would like to create a new questionnaire for children and young people (CYP) who take steroids due to their rheumatological condition. The questionnaire, called a Patient Reported Outcome Measure, (PROM), will measure how steroids are affecting CYP. The first step in creating the questionnaire is to talk to children, young people and their parents/guardians about their experiences of taking steroids. The investigators plan to do this in focus groups, with people around the same age. The second step will then be to take everything people said in the focus group to create the questions in the questionnaire. Cognitive interviewing will then be used in a structured one on one interview to test for relevance, clarity and understanding of the questions. Children, young people and their parents/guardians will be involved throughout the research. Children and young people will give their thoughts and feedback on resources created for participants (consent forms/assent forms/participation information sheet/interview schedule), as well as how the focus groups and cognitive interviews should be structured. With consent, participants will be provided with a lay summary of the results. Results will also be published within peer-reviewed journals, special interest groups, trial meetings, patient charity meetings and presented at conferences.

The rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRDs) are life-long multi-system diseases that are life or organ threatening. RAIRDs can impair quality of life similar to chronic diseases such as heart failure. The aim of the study is to explore content and structure of a support programme for people with RAIRDs in focus groups and survey meetings.