Preference phenotypes to facilitate shared decision-making in rheumatoid arthritis

To facilitate better shared decision-making at the point of care for patients failing methotrexate monotherapy, Fraenkel et al. developed preference phenotypes or profiles to measure the preferences of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) for triple therapy, biologics, and Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitors. The authors surveyed 1,273 participants and developed 5 groups to classify patients: most strongly impacted by the cost of medication, most strongly influenced by the risk of bothersome side effects, most concerned with the risk of very rare side effects, strongly prefer oral over parenteral medications, and most strongly and equally influenced by onset of action and the risk of serious infections. These results show that there is variability in patients’ values, and it is important to use a shared decision-making approach in implementing treatment.