How is the patient perspective captured in ANCA-associated vasculitis research? An integrative review

Abstract

Objective: The aim was to describe how the patient perspective is captured in clinical research on ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Methods: This integrative review included 2149 publications found in four different databases and manual searches. After screening, 156 articles remained. All articles were sorted and categorized, and 77 original articles were analysed further. Results: The patient perspective was captured with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), single-item questionnaires, project-specific questionnaires and interviews. The most common aspects measured were health-related quality of life, anxiety and depression, and fatigue, and the least common were lifestyle habits, relationships and self-management. Conclusion: The patient perspective was captured predominantly with generic PROMs and occasionally with a qualitative approach. AVV is a lifelong disease, and the results from this review show that not all aspects of importance to patients are covered with the PROMs used in research. Future studies should include the areas that are the most important for patients.