Treating psoriatic arthritis to target: discordance between physicians and patients' assessment, non-adherence, and restricted access to drugs precluded therapy escalation in a real-world cohort

Challenges in the Management of Psoriatic Arthritis in Latin America: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

In 2020, the International League of Associations for Rheumatology published recommendations for managing psoriatic arthritis (PsA), aiming to adapt the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis and the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology recommendations to low-income countries. At that time, the paucity of clinical studies examining the management of patients with PsA in Latin America was remarked on by the international working group. Therefore, the primary objective of this systematic literature review was to investigate the main challenges in managing PsA in Latin America as described in recent publications.

METHODS

A systematic literature review of trials reporting at least one challenge/difficulty in the management of PsA in Latin America was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. References published in the PubMed, EMBASE, and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature) databases between 1980 and February 2023 were included. The selection of references was conducted independently by 2 researchers in the Rayyan Qatar Computing Research Institute program. Two other reviewers independently extracted data. All challenges were noted and categorized into domains. Data analysis was descriptive.

FINDINGS

The search strategy yielded 2085 references, with 21 studies included in the final analysis. Most studies were conducted in Brazil (66.6%; n = 14) and were observational studies (100%; N = 21). Difficulties faced by PsA patients and physicians included the high incidence of opportunistic infections (described in 42.8% of the publications; n = 9), followed by nonadherence to therapy, discordance between patients and physicians regarding remission rates, low drug persistence, limited access to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, issues related to the storage of biologic drugs, elevated cost of biologic drugs, limited access to medical care, diagnostic delay, and the individual- and country-level impact of socioeconomic factors on work- and health-related outcomes.

IMPLICATIONS

Challenges in the management of PsA in Latin America extend beyond the care of opportunistic infections, encompassing several other socioeconomic factors. More research is needed to better understand the peculiarities of treating PsA in Latin America to improve patient care. PROSPERO identifier: CRD42021228297.

Prevalence of Psoriatic Arthritis Patients Achieving Minimal Disease Activity in Real-world Studies and Randomized Clinical Trials: Systematic Review with Metaanalysis

Objective.

To estimate the frequency of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) achieving minimal disease activity (MDA) status in real-world studies and randomized controlled trials (RCT).

Methods.

A systematic literature search for 2009–2017 was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and LILACS. Study selection and data extraction were performed by 2 independent researchers. Random-effects single-arm metaanalyses were performed and heterogeneity was assessed using I2.

Results.

A total of 405 records were identified and 45 studies were analyzed: 39 (86.7%) observational studies and 6 (13.3%) RCT; they included 12,469 patients. The overall prevalence of MDA in cross-sectional studies was 35% (95% CI 30%–41%, I2 = 94%), varying from 17% (95% CI 7%–34%) in patients taking synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) to 57% (95% CI 41%–71%) in those taking biological DMARD. Prevalence of MDA in cohort studies increased with longer followup time, ranging from 25% (95% CI 15%–40%) with 3- to 4-month followup to 42% (95% CI 38%–45%) with > 24-month followup. Patients with PsA receiving biological DMARD in a real-world context and RCT had similar prevalence of MDA at 6-month followup: 30% (95% CI 21%–41%, I2 = 85%) versus 32% (95% CI 26%–39%, I2 = 79%), respectively.

Conclusion.

Patients with PsA included in real-world studies had similar prevalence of MDA compared to those in controlled clinical trials. This finding suggests that MDA is a useful treatment target for PsA in the real-world setting.