Changing Treatment in Patients with PsA Could Improve Skin and Joint Conditions
While evaluating treatment alterations for patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), incorporating and assessing both joint and skin components is worthwhile, according to new research.
To characterize joint activity outcomes and skin severity associated with treatment changes of patients with PsA, 647 participants aged 18 years and older who had been diagnosed with PsA and had a history of psoriasis between March 21, 2013, and September 30, 2016, were enrolled in a 12-month follow-up study.
The Corrona Psoriatic Arthritis/Spondyloarthritis (PsA/SpA) Registry organized participants’ clinical features, demographics, and treatment characteristics by skin severity and joint activity. Any change in skin and joint condition, from the time of enrollment to the 12-month visit, was classified by Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) or body surface area (BSA).
Tests further evaluated the association of changes in therapy on joint activity and skin severity, revealing that most patients with PsA experienced no change in skin severity regardless of reduced therapy.
“However, there was a significant association between changes in therapy and changes in joint activity,” the authors reported.
Increased therapy yielded greater improvement in joint activity for 32% of patients, while 22% of patients who received reduced therapy saw improvement in joint activity; 11% experienced no changes in therapy or joint activity.
“Patients with improvement in both joint activity and skin severity saw the largest median reduction in both CDAI and BSA, while those who worsened in both had the greatest median increase in both CDAI and BSA,” the authors reported.
-Angelique Platas
Reference:
Mease P, Etzel C, Huster W. Evaluation of changes in skin and joint outcomes and associated treatment changes in psoriatic arthritis (PsA): experience from the Corrona PsA/SpA Registry. J Rheumatol. 2021;48(3):376-384