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Screening tests helpful in identification of potential psoriatic arthritis in psoriasis patients
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Three screening tests demonstrated utility in identifying patients with psoriasis who did not have psoriatic arthritis and those with possible psoriatic arthritis who may benefit from consulting a rheumatologist, according to new research.
A total of 949 patients with psoriasis were randomly assigned to complete one of three screening questionnaires: the Psoriasis and Arthritis Screening Questionnaire (PASQ), the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) and the Toronto Psoriatic Arthritis Screen (ToPAS). Patients were also screened by a rheumatologist to determine whether psoriatic arthritis (PsA) was present based on medical history, physical examination and laboratory testing.
Philip Mease
Within the overall population studied, 285 patients were clinically diagnosed with PsA by the rheumatologist. Among these patients, 168 previously received a PsA diagnosis and 117 had not.
For the 664 patients who did not receive a clinical PsA diagnosis, 47 were previously diagnosed with PsA and 617 had not.
The proportions of patients who were clinically diagnosed with PsA were similar in the PASQ, PEST and ToPAS subgroups, according to the researchers.
Testing sensitivity ranged from 0.67 to 0.84, whereas sensitivity ranged from 0.65 to 0.75. The tests were found to have a positive predictive value range of 0.43 to 0.60 and a negative predictive value range of 0.83 to 0.91.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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