14 February 2024
Our polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) guideline is undergoing major revision following the high standards set by our Guidelines Protocol to incorporate the latest evidence and provide health practitioners and people living with PMR a key resource to support the best possible care.
Our previous PMR guideline was published in 2009 and since then new PMR clinical trial evidence has emerged and a major guideline update is needed. Guideline working group (GWG) chair, Max Yates, said:
“During the update of this guideline, we will focus on identifying evidence relating to treatment of people living with PMR. An evidence-based guideline, developed according to the rigorous methods outlined in the BSR guideline protocol, will be a valuable and practical resource for the whole rheumatology community.”
Janice Maddock, Deputy Chair of PMRGCAuk, is one of the experts by experience in the GWG. She said:
“This guideline update will allow people living with PMR and their healthcare professionals to reach shared decisions about treatment based on the best available evidence. Since the side effects of treatments can cause problems for many patients, having this up-to-date guideline will give people living with PMR more confidence in options for their ongoing care.”
Janice also runs the PMRGCAuk Awareness Programme, raising awareness of PMR and GCA to people over 50 and professionals who work with them.
The PMR guideline update will cover pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, as well as management of relapses, monitoring and stopping treatments, plus patient information and support.
The guideline will be developed using the methods and processes outlined in the Creating Clinical Guidelines: British Society for Rheumatology Protocol.
The full scope can be accessed now in the BSR open-access journal, Rheumatology Advances In Practice, here. The final update is expected to be published in Spring 2025.
Access all the BSR guidelines and a range of helpful related resources via the guidelines homepage.