Misalignment between physicians and patient satisfaction with psoriatic arthritis disease control

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) management requires assessing patient and physician perspectives on disease control.
• Discrepancies in satisfaction reporting may indicate unmet patient needs or suboptimal treatment outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the degree of misalignment between patient- and physician-reported satisfaction with PsA control.
• To identify factors associated with this patient-physician satisfaction misalignment.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Adelphi Rheumatology Disease Specific Programme, a US-based cross-sectional survey.
• Collected physician data on satisfaction, joint counts, and psoriasis body surface area (BSA).
• Collected patient data on satisfaction, work productivity, and Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI).

Main Results:

• 23.6% of patient-physician pairs showed misalignment in satisfaction reporting.
• Misaligned pairs reported higher disease activity (more swollen/tender joints) and greater patient disability (HAQ-DI, work impairment).
• Swollen joint count and HAQ-DI score were significantly associated with misalignment in the overall patient group.

Conclusions:

• Patient-physician misalignment in PsA satisfaction is a notable issue, affecting over a quarter of assessed pairs.
• This misalignment correlates with objective measures of increased disease activity and functional impairment.
• Addressing this discordance is crucial for improving overall PsA patient care and outcomes.