Comorbidities, CV risk factors common in early PsA

TOPLINE:

Patients with early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) were significantly more likely to have multiple comorbidities and cardiovascular risk factors than controls.

METHODOLOGY:

• The study population included 67 adults with early PsA and 61 healthy matched controls with mean ages of 47.9 years and 45 years, respectively.
• Early PsA was defined as symptom duration of less than 2 years; patients with conditions including active infection, malignancy, or other rheumatic or systemic disease were excluded.
• The researchers examined the prevalence of comorbidities and cardiovascular risk factors in treatment-naive, newly diagnosed patients with PsA at baseline and after 1 year.

TAKEAWAY:

• Adults with early PsA were significantly more likely to have two or more comorbidities and multiple cardiovascular risk factors at baseline, compared with healthy controls (odds ratios, 1.9 and 2.1, respectively).
• Dyslipidemia was the most prevalent comorbidity among patients with PsA and was more prevalent than in controls (64.2% vs. 39.3%; OR, 1.7).
• Obesity was more common in patients with PsA, compared with controls (40.3% vs. 18.3%, respectively), and more patients with PsA had cardiovascular disease at baseline than did controls (20.9% vs. 6.6%; OR, 3.2).
• Disease activity scores improved after 1 year, but the proportion of patients with comorbidities and CV risk factors remained stable.

IN PRACTICE:

The results support the early assessment of patients with PsA for comorbidities to inform treatment and suggest that comorbidities and CV risk factors are more than a consequence of long-term PsA and chronic systemic inflammation.

SOURCE:

The study was conducted by Alla Ishchenko, MD, and colleagues in the division of rheumatology at University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium. The study was published online in Arthritis Care & Research.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was exploratory in nature, with a short follow-up period and a relatively small sample size.

DISCLOSURES:

Dr. Ishchenko disclosed support from PARTNER, an international fellowship program to study disease mechanisms in psoriatic arthritis, as well as grants from Lilly and from the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.