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Decision aid may help women with RA make family planning choices
A new motherhood decision aid designed for women with rheumatoid arthritis may help to inform women in making choices about conception, pregnancy and parenting in the context of the disease and treatment, according to a recently published report.
Researchers recruited 188 women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to participate in a survey and randomization into a control group or an intervention group which included the use of the 45-page decision aid titled, “Motherhood choices: A decision aid for women with rheumatoid arthritis,” which includes information, worksheets such as a decision tree and pro/con scales and a knowledge checklist. No information was provided to the control group, but both groups were issued the same series of questionnaires issued at baseline following the intervention period, including the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Pregnancy in Rheumatoid Arthritis Questionnaire (PiRAQ) to assess an individual’s knowledge about RA, pregnancy and parenting.
The study was completed by 144 women, 78 of whom were assigned to the interventional group and (mean age 31.26 years) and 66 (mean age 30.67 years) were assigned to the control group. No significant differences were observed between the groups.
Following the final questionnaires, a greater improvement in the PiRAQ scores were observed in the interventional group and a decrease in decisional conflict was seen in the interventional group, based on DCS scores. Anxiety and depression, based on HADS responses, did not change over time or differ between groups from baseline. Complicated decision-making was also not affected by the intervention. A significant interaction effect was seen in arthritis self-efficacy for the intervention group with a small effect size.
The decision aid is available at the Arthritis and Osteoporosis of New South Wale’s webpage. – by Shirley Pulawski
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.