Factors influencing clinician prescribing of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs for inflammatory arthritis: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies

Understanding factors that influence prescribing of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) will inform strategies to optimise care of people with inflammatory arthritis. We performed a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies to explore these factors. Inclusion criteria were: use of qualitative or mixed methods; rheumatologist, nurse or pharmacist perspectives; prescription of any DMARD (conventional [cs], targeted synthetic [ts], biologic [b], biosimilars) and/or glucocorticoids; in any healthcare setting in any country. MEDLINE, Embase and EBSCOhost CINAHL Plus were searched from inception to 15 June 2021. Pairs of review authors independently identified studies for inclusion, assessed methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist, and extracted and thematically synthesised data. Confidence in synthesis themes was evaluated using the GRADE Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (CERQual) approach. We included 15 studies involving 716 clinicians (683 rheumatologists, 27 nurses, 6 pharmacists) across 10 countries, all focusing on management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Six themes were identified: Rheumatologist prescribing is influenced by patients’ characteristics, preferences, symptoms and negative responses to medication; Rheumatologist knowledge, experience, habits and subjective judgements are strong drivers of prescribing behaviour; High demands on consultation time impede shared decision-making; Costs and complexity of medication funding arrangements limit prescribing options; Clinicians recognise the importance of providing patient education about medication options; and Clinicians value colleagues’ opinions and support to inform prescribing decisions. The majority of themes were graded as moderate confidence (n = 4), reflecting they are likely to reasonably represent the factors influencing prescribing of DMARDs to people with RA. Quality improvement strategies that address these factors are likely to support best practice pharmacologic management of RA and may be potentially applicable to other types of inflammatory arthritis. High demand on consultation time and complexity of medication funding arrangements are system factors that may or may not be amenable to change. Easily accessible living national guidelines which include lay summaries and treatment algorithms to support prescribing decisions may address some of the themes.