An international survey of current management practices for polymyalgia rheumatica by general practitioners and rheumatologists

OBJECTIVES

To explore current management practices for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) by general practitioners (GPs) and rheumatologists including implications for clinical trial recruitment.

METHODS

An English language questionnaire was constructed by a working group of rheumatologists and GPs from 6 countries. The questionnaire focused on: 1: Respondent characteristics, 2: Referral practices, 3: Treatment with glucocorticoids, 4: Diagnostics, 5: Comorbidities, and 6: Barriers to research. The questionnaire was distributed to rheumatologists and GPs worldwide via members of the International PMR/giant cell arteritis Study Group.

RESULTS

In total, 394 GPs and 937 rheumatologists responded to the survey. GPs referred a median of 25% of their suspected PMR patients for diagnosis and 50% of these were returned to their GP for management. In general, 39% of rheumatologists evaluated patients with suspected PMR >2 weeks after referral, and a median of 50% of patients had started prednisolone before rheumatologist evaluation. Direct comparison of initial treatment showed that the percentage prescribing >25 mg prednisolone daily for patients was 30% for GPs and 12% for rheumatologists. Diagnostic imaging was rarely used. More than half (56%) of rheumatologists experienced difficulties recruiting people with PMR to clinical trials.

CONCLUSION

This large international survey indicates that a large proportion of people with PMR are not referred for diagnosis, and that the proportion of treatment naïve patients declined with increasing time from referral to assessment. Strategies are needed to change referral and management of people with PMR, to improve clinical practice and facilitate recruitment to clinical trials.