@article {Majrheum.200646, author = {Margaret H.Y. Ma and Sen Hee Tay and Peter P.M. Cheung and Amelia Santosa and Yiong Huak Chan and James W.L. Yip and Anselm Mak and Manjari Lahiri}, title = {Attitudes and Behaviours of Patients with Rheumatic Diseases during the early stages of the COVID-19 Outbreak.}, elocation-id = {jrheum.200646}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.3899/jrheum.200646}, publisher = {The Journal of Rheumatology}, abstract = {Objective To evaluate attitudes and behaviours of patients with rheumatic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods An online survey delivered via text-message to 4695 patients on follow-up at a tertiary rheumatology centre. Latent class analysis was performed on the survey variables. Results 2239 (47.7\%) responded to the survey and three clusters were identified. Cluster-3 (C3) was defined by patients most worried about COVID-19, were more likely to wear face-masks, and to alter or stop their medications. Patients in C3 were more likely to be female, Malay and unemployed. Conclusion We identified three clusters with different healthcare beliefs and distinct sociodemographics.}, issn = {0315-162X}, URL = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2020/09/10/jrheum.200646}, eprint = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2020/09/10/jrheum.200646.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Rheumatology} }