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Economic Burden of Psoriatic Arthritis

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Abstract

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory arthritis in association with skin psoriasis (Ps). PsA may show a heterogeneous and variable clinical course, with involvement of peripheral and axial diarthrodial joints, periarticular structures such as entheses, as well as the skin and nails. Evidence is increasing that affected patients can have significant radiographic joint damage, functional impairment, reduced quality of life (QOL) and long-term work disability. The economic burden of PsA can be considerable.

There is an increasing interest in pharmacoeconomic evaluations in PsA, driven mostly by the introduction of highly effective but expensive biologic agents, particularly inhibitors of the proinflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Treatment with TNFα inhibitors results in not only substantial improvements in signs and symptoms of arthritis, but also improvements in all distinct sites of the disease, such as axial arthritis, dactylitis, enthesitis and skin disease.

There is a dearth of published pharmacoeconomic evaluations in the field of PsA. The notable clinical efficacy of the TNFα inhibitors needs to be factored into a comprehensive assessment of their value. Further analyses are needed to optimize the use of the new biologic agents in PsA.

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No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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  1. The Center for Innovative Therapy, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0943, La Jolla, San Diego, California, 92093-0943, USA

    Christoph Ackermann &  Arthur Kavanaugh

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Ackermann, C., Kavanaugh, A. Economic Burden of Psoriatic Arthritis. Pharmacoeconomics 26, 121–129 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200826020-00003

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