A qualitative study of patients’ experiences of screening for psoriatic arthritis

Silverthorne, Christine A.; Bowen, Clive; Lord, Jane; McHugh, Neil; Tillett, William; Dures, Emma; Lissina, Anya

Abstract

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis which can cause pain, fatigue, swelling and stiffness in the joints, and result in limited physical function and a high psychosocial burden.
Patients with psoriasis are at greater risk of developing PsA than those without. There is no definitive test for PsA. Diagnosis is made by rheumatologists after referral from primary care, based on the patient’s medical history, a physical examination, blood tests, MRI scan and X-rays. Delays can be due to patient-related factors (e.g., reluctance to seek medical help) and clinician-related factors (e.g., the lack of autoimmune diagnostic markers). Even a 6-month delay from symptom onset can result in worse long-term physical function. The PROMPT programme (NIHR grant: RP-PG-1212-20007) is investigating clinical and cost benefits of early detection of PsA. The main study is a two-a rm parallel-group cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of screening (known as TUDOR), us ing enhanced surveillance for PsA in primary care vs standard care. Screening included an examination of participants’ skin, joints, hands, feet, scalp, physical tests (e.g., touching toes), height and weight measurement, blood tests, X-rays, MRI scans and questionnaires. An important aspect of TUDOR is understanding whether screening would be acceptable to patients with psoriasis, some of whom will be diagnosed with PsA as a result and some of whom will not. The aim of this study was to understand the experience of screening from the perspective of participants with psoriasis recruited to the enhanced surveillance arm in the TUDOR RCT.

• Journal Article Type: Letter
• Acceptance Date: Aug 14, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 17, 2022
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 24, 2022
• Journal: British Journal of Dermatology
• Print ISSN: 0007-0963
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2133
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.21825
• Keywords: Dermatology
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9900207
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjd.21825
• Additional Information: Received: 2022-03-08; Accepted: 2022-08-14; Published: 2022-08-17