Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Conditions
Keywords
arthritis & connective tissue diseases, disease-related problem/condition, educational needs, immunologic disorders and infectious disorders, rare disease, systemic lupus erythematosus
Brief summary
OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate an educational program that has been pretested for cultural appropriateness and literacy requirements in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). II. Assess the impact of this educational program on patients with SLE, with an emphasis on recognizing cardinal symptoms, coping with fatigue, regulating medications, and communicating with the physician.
Detailed description
PROTOCOL OUTLINE: Patients are randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. One group participates in an educational program administered and coordinated by a health educator. The program includes 1 or 2 educational sessions emphasizing practical advice, each lasting approximately 1.5 hours; social support from a patient-identified management partner; and behavioral reinforcement from health center staff, the patient partner, and written and audio materials. The control group receives patient educational materials consistent with usual care (pamphlets). Patients are followed at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months.
Interventions
PROCEDURETailored educational program
PROCEDUREEducational materials
Sponsors
Virginia Commonwealth University
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Primary purpose
ECT
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
0 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA: Confirmed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using American College of Rheumatology criteria Recruitment from the Medical College of Virginia SLE registry
Outcome results
None listed