Doctor-patient relationship key to successful outcome of treatment in psoriatic arthritis

People with psoriatic arthritis who are misaligned with their rheumatologist may have worse outcomes, a research group revealed at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting.
A group of experts looked at data from 305 rheumatologist and psoriatic arthritis patient pairs. Patients competed questionnaires, and both patients and the rheumatologists reported their satisfaction with treatment.

Level of alignment of satisfaction between patients and rheumatologists was 76.4% (65.3% were satisfied with treatment and 11.1% were dissatisfied with treatment). And rheumatologist and patient misalignment was present in 23.6% of the group. Patients in the misaligned group had:

• Higher total tender and swollen joint counts;
• More of their body surface area affected;
• More psoriatic arthritis symptoms;
• Higher incidence of depression, anxiety and overall work and daily activity impairment;
• Higher levels of disability.

But those in the misaligned group had a shorter time since diagnosis and were less likely to receive biologic therapy.

“The findings suggest that a greater degree of alignment might result in improved outcomes, although further research would be required to verify this hypothesis,” the researchers conclude.

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Image credit: Vic