Psoriatic Arthritis
About this PSP
The Psoriatic Arthritis Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established in 2019 to identify the unmet needs in psoriatic arthritis research. The PSP was funded by the British Psoriatic Arthritis Consortium (BritPACT) and was a collaboration with the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR), Psoriasis Association and the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance (PAPAA).
Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that affects some people with the skin condition psoriasis.
The Psoriatic Arthritis PSP Top 10 was published in August 2021.
Top 10 priorities
- What is the best strategy for managing patients with psoriatic arthritis, including non-drug and drug treatments?
- What factors affect how psoriatic arthritis will progress, the likely severity of the disease in an individual and whether it will go into remission?
- Can tests be developed to predict whether a person has or will develop psoriatic arthritis?
- Is a person with psoriatic arthritis at risk of developing other health conditions? If so, which ones? Why?
- Does treating psoriatic arthritis early (or proactively) reduce the severity of the disease and/or make it more likely to go into remission?
- What triggers acute exacerbations and flares of psoriatic arthritis symptoms?
- What is the best way to measure outcomes of treatment in psoriatic arthritis?
- What are the long-term risks and benefits of medications used for psoriatic arthritis?
- Why do treatments stop working well against psoriatic arthritis, and when they lose effectiveness, what's the best way to regain control of psoriatic arthritis?
- What treatments present the most benefit (considering efficacy, tolerability and safety) for the different body tissues involved in psoriatic arthritis, for example, joints, tendons, spine, skin and nails?
The following questions were also discussed and put in order of priority at the workshop:
- What factors or tests predict how well an individual with psoriatic arthritis will improve on a treatment?
- To what extent is psoriatic arthritis caused or affected by internal factors such as genetics and gut health?
- What additional treatments (including pain medications, hydrotherapy and pain management) may be helpful to manage symptoms in psoriatic arthritis, such as pain, sleep disruption and fatigue?
- What is best way of predicting and preventing joint and soft tissue damage in patients with psoriatic arthritis?
- What factors affect which body tissues (joints, skin, tendons) and which areas of the body (legs, hands, feet) are affected by psoriatic arthritis and why?
- What is the role of non-pharmacological treatments such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and podiatry in treating patients with psoriatic arthritis?
- What role does imaging such as x-ray, MRI and ultrasound play in the diagnosis and management of psoriatic arthritis?
- How do changes in female hormones, such as during puberty, pregnancy, menstruation, miscarriage, menopause, breast feeding and contraceptive use, trigger or affect psoriatic arthritis and its treatment?
Document downloads
For full details of all of the questions identified by this PSP, please see the document below.