Conte Chiara, Menegolo Anna, De Stefano Ludovico, Bugatti Serena, Sakellariou Garifallia
Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Division of Rheumatology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Aug 8;12:1630114. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1630114. eCollection 2025.
Recent advancements in the management of inflammatory arthritis have shifted the focus toward patient-centered care, with increasing emphasis on patient education, engagement, and treatment adherence. At the same time, the growing use of imaging techniques offers novel opportunities to enhance communication between healthcare professionals and patients. This review examines current evidence on how visual tools and imaging modalities can improve patient understanding, foster engagement, and strengthen adherence in inflammatory arthritis. Barriers to adherence often arise from low health literacy and entrenched beliefs about illness and medications. However, visual communication has shown promise in addressing these challenges. Research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and gout suggest that showing personal or illustrative images can increase disease insight, reinforce treatment necessity, and encourage shared decision-making. Among imaging techniques, musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) stands out for its real-time use and interactive potential. Although findings-especially in RA-are encouraging, the overall evidence remains limited, with lack of research in spondyloarthritis and scarce data on long-term outcomes. Further studies are needed to develop standardized protocols and identify patient subgroups most likely to benefit. Ultimately, integrating imaging into patient education may be a valuable strategy to improve care experiences and outcomes in inflammatory arthritis.
炎症性关节炎管理方面的最新进展已将重点转向以患者为中心的护理，越来越强调患者教育、参与和治疗依从性。与此同时，成像技术的日益广泛应用为加强医疗保健专业人员与患者之间的沟通提供了新的机会。本综述探讨了关于视觉工具和成像方式如何提高患者对炎症性关节炎的理解、促进参与并增强依从性的现有证据。依从性的障碍通常源于健康素养低下以及对疾病和药物的固有观念。然而，视觉沟通在应对这些挑战方面已显示出前景。对类风湿性关节炎（RA）、幼年特发性关节炎和痛风的研究表明，展示个人或说明性图像可以增强对疾病的认识、强化治疗的必要性并鼓励共同决策。在成像技术中，肌肉骨骼超声（MSUS）因其实时使用和互动潜力而脱颖而出。尽管研究结果——尤其是在类风湿性关节炎方面——令人鼓舞，但总体证据仍然有限，脊柱关节炎方面缺乏研究，长期结果的数据也很少。需要进一步研究以制定标准化方案并确定最可能受益的患者亚组。最终，将成像纳入患者教育可能是改善炎症性关节炎护理体验和结果的一项有价值的策略。
