PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Walter P Maksymowych
AU  - Dafna Gladman
AU  - Proton Rahman
AU  - Annelies Boonen
AU  - Vivien Bykerk
AU  - Denis Choquette
AU  - Sherry Dimond
AU  - Paul Fortin
AU  - Jacob Karsh
AU  - Alice V Klinkhoff
AU  - Dianne Mosher
AU  - Ken Mulholland
AU  - Wojciech P Olszynski
AU  - Anthony S Russell
AU  - Laurie Savage
AU  - Laura Shanner
AU  - Kam Shojania
AU  - Michael Starr
AU  - Glen Thomson
AU  - Michel Zummer
AU  - Robert Inman
AU  - Canadian Rheumatology Association/ Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada
TI  - The Canadian Rheumatology Association/ Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada treatment recommendations for the management of spondyloarthritis: a national multidisciplinary stakeholder project.
DP  - 2007 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 2273--2284
VI  - 34
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/34/11/2273.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/34/11/2273.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2007 Nov 01; 34
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Development of treatment recommendations for arthritis has traditionally relied on the compilation of evidence-based data by experts in the field despite recommendations by various bodies for broad stakeholder input. Our objectives were: (1) To develop evidence-based treatment recommendations for the management of spondyloarthritis (SpA) in Canada that also incorporate the perspective of multiple stakeholders. (2) To generate a procedural template for the multidisciplinary development of treatment recommendations. METHODS: The process was directed by a steering committee comprising the SPARCC Executive, rheumatologists from academic and community-based practice, patient consumers, and a representative from the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre. Guidelines established by EULAR and stipulated in the AGREE instrument were followed. First, a working document was drafted that included a referenced summary of the evidence-based data and the 12 national arthritis care standards developed by the Alliance for the Canadian Arthritis Program. Second, a Web-based survey was conducted among patient consumers to address the relevance to patients of 2 primary outcome instruments that assess the effectiveness of treatment. Third, a list of questions was generated for drafting propositions by the ethics consultant. A Delphi consensus exercise was then conducted. RESULTS: Consensus was generated on a final list of 38 treatment recommendations categorized under the subject headings of general management principles, ethical considerations, target groups, definition of target disease, disease monitoring, and specific management recommendations. CONCLUSION: Using broad stakeholder input, we provide treatment recommendations to guide clinical practice and access to care for patients with SpA in Canada.