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.