Usefulness of the Psoriatic Arthritis Screening and Evaluation Questionnaire to Monitor Disease Activity in Management of Patients with Psoriasis: Findings from the EPI-PSODE Study

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are included in the group of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) caused by systemic inflammation; however, indicators for monitoring inflammatory activity in patients with psoriasis, such as the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), are limited. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Psoriatic Arthritis Screening and Evaluation (PASE) questionnaire can be used to monitor disease activity in patients with psoriasis. METHODS: This was a multicenter, noninterventional, cross-sectional study. Demographic factors and PASI and PASE scores were collected to investigate associations between each. RESULTS: PASE data were available for 1,255 patients, of whom 498 (39.7%) had a score of ≥37. Compared with the group with PASE score <37, the group with score ≥37 had a higher proportion of women (34.9% vs. 48.8%, p<0.0001), older mean age at diagnosis (36.4 vs. 41.7 years, p<0.0001), more severe disease activity using PASI and body surface area measures (p=0.0021 and p=0.0008, respectively), and higher mean body mass index (23.7 vs. 24.1, p=0.0411). In a multiple linear regression model, PASE score was positively associated with cutaneous disease activity (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: After risk-adjustment, PASE was positively associated with PASI, which suggests that PASE can be sensitive to disease activity. Since psoriasis is regarded as one of the IMIDs, PASE may be utilized as a tool not only to screen PsA but also to monitor disease activity.