We now have jargon-free, easy to digest abstracts of some of our research findings available to view on the website.
The summaries include the key results from our studies written in non-technical language, with a view to making our research accessible to all. In the past our findings have only been available through academic scientific papers and conference results, which generally present barriers to public access of our findings. We hope that by making these results available in a plain English format and distilling study findings to their key points, our research will become available to a wider audience and will highlight the important work being done by the group. These publications
At the moment we have five summaries online which are available at the following address:
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/epidemiology/summaries
We will be adding more summaries on an ongoing basis in the months ahead. Studies currently covered include:
Biologic therapies for people with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA)
A study looking at how real-world patients with axSpA respond to biologic therapies, and comparing their response to this treatment with that from similar patients in relevant clinical trials.
Read the full summary here.
Quality of life factors for people with axSpA
This research looks at data taken from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR-AS) and uses this to determine what the main factors are in determining a patient’s quality of life.
Read the full summary here.
Spinal mobility factors and axSpA
This study again looks at patients with axial spondyloarthritis, and in particular their levels of spinal mobility. Using data from the BSRBR-AS, we asked which factors could be associated with poorer spinal mobility, and whether this could, in turn, predict how well patients would respond to biologic therapies.
Read the full summary here.
Work, axSpA and rural areas
Again, using data from the BSRBR-AS, this study looks at the differences between patients in rural and urban settings in terms of how severe their disease was. In particular we wanted to know whether there was a difference between these groups in terms of the impact on ability to work.
Read the full summary here.
The effect of activity on distal arm pain
This study looks at ‘distal’ arm pain (that is, in the elbow, forearm or wrist) , and looks at patients who were either asked to keep their arm active during recovery or to rest it. It also looks at whether the intervention of fast-track physiotherapy might aid in recovery time.
Read the full summary here.
Our hope is that in future these summaries will be prepared by researchers as they write up their findings, and we will be able to add these to the website when study results are published in academic journals.
You can view the full list of summaries here.