Psoriatic Arthritis Therapy Affects Skin Involvement, Joint Severity

Current psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treatment influences disease characteristics and patient-reported outcomes in patients with a history of psoriasis, according to results from the Corrona PsA/SpA registry. The findings were presented at the 2017 American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals

Annual Meeting.

The researchers used data from the Corrona PsA/SpA registry from March 2013 to September 2016. Based on therapy type at enrollment, the researchers categorized 266 patients as not on DMARD therapy, 430 patients as taking conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDAMRDS) and 765 patients as on anti-tumor necrosis factors (antiTNFs).

In the no DMARD group, patients were more likely to be women, younger, and have a shorter psoriasis duration. These patients had a higher dactylitis count, increased enthesitis, and higher levels of joint activity, skin severity, and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) scores. They were also less likely to have achieved minimal disease activity (MDA).

Patients in the TNFi therapy group had better disease control (CDAI and body surface area BSA) compared with other therapy groups; the proportion of patients with MDA was similar to patients on csDMARDS.

“The relationship between joint activity and skin severity is influenced by age, SPARCC, patient reported pain, fatigue and HAQ among patients on DMARDs and TNFi therapies,” the authors wrote in their abstract. “For improved disease management of PsA patients with a history of psoriasis, consideration of these factors is important when determining type of therapy.”