Effectiveness of interdisciplinary combined dermatology–gastroenterology–rheumatology clinical care compared to usual care in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: a parallel group, non-blinded, pragmatic randomised trial

Abstract

Introduction Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQol), increased risk of somatic and psychiatric comorbidities and reduced socioeconomic status. Individuals with one IMID have an increased risk for developing other IMIDs. The unmet needs in the care of patients with IMIDs may result from a lack of patient-centricity in the usual monodisciplinary siloed approach to these diseases. The advantages of novel interdisciplinary clinics towards the traditional therapeutic approach have not been investigated. The overall aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary combined clinic intervention compared with usual care in a population of patients with the IMIDs: psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Our hypothesis is that an interdisciplinary combined clinic intervention will be more effective than usual care in improving clinical and patient-reported outcomes, and that a more effective screening and management of other IMIDs and comorbidities can be performed.Methods and analysis This is a randomised, usual care controlled, parallel-group pragmatic clinical trial. 300 consecutively enrolled participants with co-occurrence of at least two IMIDs are randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to either treatment in the interdisciplinary combined clinic or usual care. The study will consist of a 6-month active intervention period and a 6-month follow-up period where no intervention or incentives will be provided by the trial. The primary outcome is the change from baseline to 24 weeks on the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) Physical Component Summary. Additional patient-reported outcome measures and clinical measures are assessed as secondary outcomes.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval of this study protocol was established by the institutional review board of the study site. The findings from this trial will be disseminated via conference presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals, and by engagement with patient organisations.Trial registration number NCT04200690.