Program may help identify, manage cardiovascular risk in patients with psoriasis

Key takeaways:

• 27% of patients that participated in the program were newly identified as having cardiovascular risk.
• 86% of patients reported that the program was both acceptable and feasible.

Researchers have developed and piloted a centralized care coordination program to prevent cardiovascular events in patients with psoriatic disease, according to a study.

Although psoriasis is associated with premature mortality, mostly caused by cardiovascular events, dermatologists and rheumatologists have expressed concerns over having the time and expertise to consistently screen patients for these risks.

To close this evidence-to-practice gap that physicians encounter, researchers from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania created and tested a centralized care coordination model to help evaluate and manage patients’ cardiovascular disease risk.

“This study represents a major effort to help dermatologists provide more comprehensive, integrated care which will translate into better cardiovascular outcomes in our patients with psoriasis,” Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, the James J. Leyden Professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology at University of Pennsylvania and corresponding author of the study, told Healio.

The program begins with physicians measuring a patient’s cardiovascular risk and referring the patient to a care coordinator at the National Psoriasis Foundation. The care coordinator then calculates the patient’s 10-year risk for developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and begins virtually meeting with the patient to create a plan for implementing lifestyle changes, such as diet, exercise and smoking cessation.

If the patient exhibits a 5% 10-year ASCVD, the care coordinator takes time to educate the patient on the risks and additionally sends treatment recommendations to the patient’s primary care provider.

In the pilot study that evaluated this model, 85 patients with psoriatic disease were enrolled in the program and underwent screening, blood tests and meetings with the care coordinator.

Of the 85 participants, 23 (27%) presented with newly identified, previously undiagnosed 10-year ASCVD of at least 5% and one patient was newly diagnosed with triple-vessel coronary artery disease.

These results in addition to the fact that 86% of patients reported that the program was acceptable and feasible have led the researchers to believe that this care coordination model may be a promising approach to managing cardiovascular risks among psoriasis patients.