CAP-RA Study Protocol
Reference: Ifesemen, O.S., McWilliams, D.F., Ferguson, E. et al. Central Aspects of Pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis (CAP-RA): protocol for a prospective observational study. BMC Rheumatol 5, 23 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41927-021-00187-2
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune condition that mostly affects the joints and long-term pain, and fatigue are common problems. We believe the brain, spinal cord and nerves may make pain and fatigue worse by affecting the way the body feels pain - a process called central sensitization. We have designed a new questionnaire (CAP-RA) to measure central sensitization. In the future, we believe that this questionnaire might be used to show which people will respond to certain treatments for pain. We are testing these theories with the CAP-RA study.
250 people with RA will complete the CAP-RA questionnaire, answer questions about pain, fatigue, and other areas of health, and undergo other tests and scans to measure pain, fatigue, inflammation, and central sensitization. We will use their data to determine how well CAP-RA works in people with painful RA and measure the extent to which pain and fatigue are related to central sensitization. We will also see if CAP-RA can be used to predict who will still have unacceptable pain, despite treatment.
We think that CAP-RA will identify which people can benefit from treatments over and above those treating inflammation. We will use findings from this study to develop new ways of treating people with RA in order to improve their pain and fatigue.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41927-021-00187-2