ArticleRMD open2021
Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey.
Article in RMD open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 113 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital Psychological Intervention for Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Comparison of Two Symptom Checkers (Ada and Symptoma) in the Emergency Department: Randomized, Crossover, Head-to-Head, Double-Blinded Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- Diagnostic Accuracy of a Mobile AI-Based Symptom Checker and a Web-Based Self-Referral Tool in Rheumatology: Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- Digitally supported shared decision-making and treat-to-target in rheumatology: a qualitative study embedded in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.Rheumatology international · 2023Trial
- Digitally-supported patient-centered asynchronous outpatient follow-up in rheumatoid arthritis - an explorative qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2022Trial
- Accuracy and tolerability of self-sampling of capillary blood for analysis of inflammation and autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis patients-results from a randomized controlled trial.Arthritis research & therapy · 2022Trial
- Patient's Perception of Digital Symptom Assessment Technologies in Rheumatology: Results From a Multicentre Study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Accuracy and usability of a diagnostic decision support system in the diagnosis of three representative rheumatic diseases: a randomized controlled trial among medical students.Arthritis research & therapy · 2021Trial
- Opportunities and challenges of digital health in rheumatology according to patients and professionals: a cross-sectional study.EULAR rheumatology open · 2026Article
- Patient experiences, attitudes, and profiles regarding artificial intelligence in rheumatology: a German national cross-sectional survey study.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Patient self-assessment and virtual visit-based treatment decisions in rheumatoid arthritis: results from the multicentre Telemedicine in Rheumatoid Arthritis trial.EULAR rheumatology open · 2025Article
- Digital empowerment on hold: DiGA adoption gaps-a German national cross-sectional patient survey study.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of large language models and traditional diagnostic decision support systems for rare rheumatic disease identification.EULAR rheumatology open · 2025Article
- Rheumatic? A diagnostic decision support tool for individuals suspecting rheumatic diseases: Mixed-methods usability and acceptability study.BMC rheumatology · 2025Article
- Real-World-Evidence of Digital Health Applications (DiGAs) in Rheumatology: Insights from the DiGAReal Registry.Rheumatology and therapy · 2025Article
- Early detection of rheumatoid arthritis through patient empowerment by tailored digital monitoring and education: a feasibility study.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Digital Transformation of Rheumatology Care in Germany: Cross-Sectional National Survey.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Telemedicine for under-resourced patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a qualitative study exploring the views and experiences of patients and their healthcare team.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Rheumatology in the digital health era: status quo and quo vadis?Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2024Review
- [Digital health applications-What we should know as rheumatologists].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2024Review
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatic patients' and rheumatologists' usage, preferences and perception of digital health applications (DHAs).
methodsA web-based national survey was developed by the Working Group Young Rheumatology of the German Society for Rheumatology and the German League against Rheumatism. The prospective survey was distributed via social media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook), QR code and email. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and regression analyses were performed to show correlations.
resultsWe analysed the responses of 299 patients and 129 rheumatologists. Most patients (74%) and rheumatologists (76%) believed that DHAs are useful in the management of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and felt confident in their own usage thereof (90%; 86%). 38% of patients and 71% of rheumatologists reported that their attitude had changed positively towards DHAs and that their usage had increased due to COVID-19 (29%; 48%). The majority in both groups agreed on implementing virtual visits for follow-up appointments in stable disease conditions. The most reported advantages of DHAs were usage independent of time and place (76.6%; 77.5%). The main barriers were a lack of information on suitable, available DHAs (58.5%; 41.9%), poor usability (42.1% of patients) and a lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of DHAs (23.2% of rheumatologists). Only a minority (<10% in both groups) believed that digitalisation has a negative impact on the patient-doctor relationship.
conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic instigated an increase in patients' and rheumatologists' acceptance and usage of DHAs, possibly introducing a permanent paradigm shift in the management of RMDs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.