On the Interdisciplinary Treatment and Management of Patients with Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases. A Study on Patients’ Personal Experiences and Perspectives

Purpose: Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (eg, axial spondylitis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and hidradenitis suppurativa) are common diseases that exert an extensive effect on the health-related quality of life, particularly when multiple concomitant conditions are present. Previous reports indicate that the traditional siloed approach to care can lead to a lack of patient centricity and inefficient disease management. In this article, we aimed to evaluate an interdisciplinary program for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases compared to routine clinical practice. Patients and Methods: This was a mixed-method study, combining qualitative and quantitative data. Patients with co-occurrence of ≥2 immune-mediated inflammatory diseases treated in an interdisciplinary clinic (n = 48) or traditional usual care (n = 17) answered open-ended questions about their care experiences. Two independent coders blinded to patients’ treatment group coded three aspects of the narratives provided by the patients’ responses: Themes, Emotional valence, and Personal growth (ie, redemption). Themes were analyzed descriptively to explore possible differences between patients assigned to the interdisciplinary clinic and patients assigned to the usual care setting. Group differences in patients’ emotional experiences were assessed, and we examined potential group differences in positive personal growth. Results: Our findings indicate that an interdisciplinary combined clinic approach provides benefits for patients with multiple inflammatory diseases towards the usual setup. Patients experienced benefits on a number of specific quality-of-life themes including acceptance, optimism, disease understanding, personal growth, and better disease control. The narratives of the patients in the interdisciplinary group were significantly more emotionally positive and included more positive personal growth compared to the usual care group. Conclusion: The findings indicate a patient-reported benefit, especially from the holistic approach and cross-specialty combined consultations in an interdisciplinary clinic compared to usual specialized healthcare, which was underscored by narratives highlighting an overall improved quality of life.