Key clinical point: Treatment modification was frequently observed in a cohort of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD), highlighting the need for more effective therapies.
Major finding: Overall, 57.3% of patients were treated with biologic DMARDs either as monotherapy or in combination with conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARD), whereas 37.7% and 4.4% of patients were treated with csDMARDs and targeted synthetic DMARDs, respectively. Treatment modifications in the previous year were reported by 48.4% of patients, with major reasons being lack of efficacy (38%) and remission or major improvement in the disease (14%).
Study details: Findings are from a retrospective observational cross-sectional study including 316 adults with established PsA and psoriasis who received DMARD treatment for at least 183 days in the previous year.
Disclosures: This work was funded by Bristol Myers Squibb, Germany. Some of the authors declared receiving speaker’s fees and compensation for consultancy or board memberships from Bristol Myers Squibb. Dr. Daamen and Dr. Rothnie declared being current or previous employees of Bristol Myers Squibb.
Source: Behrens F et al. Mod Rheumatol. 2021 Aug 26. doi: 10.1080/14397595.2020.1816597 .