Economic burden of psoriatic arthritis

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)-alpha. Treatment with TNF alpha 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 TNFa 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.