Surveys

Guidelines for Surveys of Membership

Approval is required to advertise surveys to the ARA Membership. The procedure for Surveys of the Membership can be found here.
Please advise:

  • What are the broad aims of the survey?
  • Why are you doing the survey i.e. is it a trainee research project?
  • The target audience ie rheumatologists, trainees, non-medical members?
  • What are you trying to achieve?
  • Does the study have ethics approval? If so, please supply the HREC committee and the relevant ethics approval.
  • Is it endorsed by a member of the ARA or one of its committees or groups?
  • The time period of the survey ie when does it finish?
  • If you are planning for the responses to be anonymised, then it is best not to include the postcode as one of the questions. Due to the small number of ARA members, inclusion of a postcode will likely allow identification even if names are not included within the survey response.


Please enclose a copy of the survey, the research protocol and ethics approval with your application and send to ara@rheumatology.org.au.

The Rheumatoid Arthritis-Interstitial Lung Disease Survey

Click here to complete the survey.

You are doubtless aware of the prevalence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD-ILD), especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA-ILD).

This survey seeks to understand attitudes to screening in Australia and the applicability of guidelines such as those published by ACR/CHEST in Australia.

The survey is for rheumatologists and respiratory physicians (and registrars in either specialty).  

This survey is part of a program that is CPD Home approved for up to 4.5 hours of reviewing performance depending on how much you wish to commit to.  Earning this involves:

STEP 1: Reflecting on your current practice along with overseas developments about screening for ILD when completing this survey.  We estimate that it will take 20 to 30 minutes.

STEP 2: Attending a webinar where we will share the deidentified results of this survey and use these to discuss thoughts about screening for ILD among patients with RA in Australia.

STEP 3: After the webinar, completing a short 10 to 15 minute survey reflecting on the overall question of whether we should develop and / or adopt guidelines for the screening of RA patients for ILD.


Please complete the survey by following the link above.  You will be provided with an opportunity to register for the webinar if you wish to, at the end of the survey.

To help us gain a robust sample we ask that you forward this email to any of your colleagues who may be interested.
 
With thanks for your consideration, 
Professor Susanna Proudman (Rheumatologist)

Survey Closes: 6pm on Thursday 25 September

Date Posted: 5 September 2025

 

Multiple Advanced Therapies in Inflammatory Diseases, the MAT study

Click here to complete the survey.

Do you have patients on or ≥2 advanced immunosuppressive therapies (eg biological agents) concurrently that are not typically used in combination?

Researchers from the University of Sydney are looking to assess the important and emerging area of outcomes of these patients, via an online de-identified registry. All data is stored securely and in the strictest of confidence, and the study has been granted Human Research Ethics Committee approval.

Please follow this link for the database to fill out patient details or receive further details. The survey takes 5-10 minutes (per patient). Any clinician who fills ≥10 patients will be offered co-authorship on the academic output.

Many thanks in advance for your time

Dr John Chetwood (john.chetwood@health.nsw.gov.au)
On behalf of the
The Multiple Advanced Therapies Research Team 

Survey Closes: 30 September 2025

Date Posted: 4 January 2024

Management of Pregnancy in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases - A Survey for Rheumatologists from the APLAR SIG on Women’s Health in Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease

Click here to complete the survey.

Help Shape the Future of Reproductive Health in Rheumatology

You're invited to take part in a brief, anonymous 8-minute survey exploring reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practices among rheumatology professionals across the APLAR region.

Led by Dr. Chen-I Hsieh (Taiwan) with support from Prof. Vinod Ravindran (India), this project—initiated by the APLAR Women’s Health SIG—aims to identify current practices and gaps to guide future education and collaboration.

Your participation is voluntary and completely confidential. No personal information will be collected, and all data will be used for academic and educational purposes only.

Your insights matter. Please take a few moments to contribute to this important initiative.

For questions, contact Claire Barrett (jacksonbarrett@optusnet.com.au), ARA representative on the APLAR SIG, or Jennifer Shie (jennifershie@gmail.com).


Survey Closing Date: 31 July 2025

Date Posted: 4 June 2025

Priority questions for a living clinical practice guideline for the management of shoulder pain

Click here to complete the survey.

Monash University researchers are seeking your help to identify priority questions for an Australian ‘living’ clinical practice guideline for the management of people with shoulder pain in primary care. 'Living' means that individual recommendations within the guideline will be updated as soon as new evidence emerges.
 
Taking part involves completing an online survey (5-10 minutes). You will also be invited to complete a second round which involves ranking the aggregated results of the first round in order of priority.

This research has been approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (ID 40633) and is funded by a project grant from Arthritis Australia.
 
For further information, please contact Dr Romi Haas at romi.haas@monash.edu.
 
Thank you for your consideration in participating in this study.

Survey Closes: 30 June 2025

Date Posted: 23 December 2024

Current practice of corticosteroid injection for common foot and ankle conditions in Australia

Click here to complete the survey.

Researchers at La Trobe University are completing a study about the current use of corticosteroid injection for foot and ankle conditions. This research is being done to learn more about the corticosteroid, local anaesthetics, and injection techniques that are being used in Australia for common foot and ankle conditions. This research is being completed as part of an Honours project.

There are a range of corticosteroids, anaesthetics, and injection techniques used to administer corticosteroid injection, with selection of each variable currently based on opinion. Past research has found that selection of corticosteroid and injection techniques varies across disciplines and geographical regions, however there is no research that has evaluated corticosteroid injection use for foot and ankle conditions by Australian health professionals. Understanding how Australian health professionals use corticosteroid injection to manage common foot and ankle conditions can inform future randomised trials comparing the effectiveness of corticosteroids and injection techniques.

We hope to learn about the corticosteroid, local anaesthetics, and injection techniques that are being used in Australia for common foot and ankle conditions. Understanding this can inform future randomised trials comparing the effectiveness of corticosteroids and injection techniques.

Recruitment of Participants and Selection Criteria
Participants will be health professionals who currently practice in Australia and administer corticosteroid injection to manage foot and ankle conditions. The health professionals that will be targeted for this study include orthopaedic surgeons, radiologists, rheumatologists, podiatrists, and podiatric surgeons.

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

  • A health professional registered with AHPRA
  • Reside in Australia 
  • Use a primary language that is the same as the researchers
  • Have administered at least 1 corticosteroid injection for a foot or ankle condition in the past 6 months

Survey Closes: 28 February 2026

Date Posted: 25 February 2025