Effects of bDMARDs on quality of life in patients with psoriatic arthritis: meta-analysis

To determine the effects of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) on the quality of life (QoL) among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Meta-analysis.

PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang and VIP databases were searched to collect randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which were conducted to evaluate the effect of bDMARDs in the treatment of patients with PsA and reported QoL-related outcomes, from inception to November 2020 and updated on 19 February 2022.

Outcomes about Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Dermatology Life Quality Index, physical component summary and mental component summary of the Short Form 36, EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale, Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 50/75/90/100 were extracted by two reviewers independently. Data were pooled using the fixed or random effects methods and considered as mean difference (MD) or risk ratio with 95% CI.

Out of 3190 articles screened, 37 RCTs (with 47 articles reported) were included. Pooled estimates showed that bDMARDs were superior versus placebo on all outcomes. Against methotrexate (MTX) and tofacitinib, bDMARDs showed no statistically significant advantages or significant disadvantages. Similar results were found for bDMARDs+MTX versus MTX. For HAQ-DI, the results of the subgroups of bDMARDs versus placebo, bDMARDs+MTX versus MTX, bDMARDs versus tofacitinib and bDMARDs versus MTX were -0.21 (MD, 95% CI, -0.23 to -0.18), -0.22 (MD, 95% CI, -0.58 to 0.14), -0.01 (MD, 95% CI, -0.05 to 0.04) and -0.03 (MD, 95% CI, -0.04 to -0.02), respectively.

Compared with placebo, bDMARDs taken by patients with PsA appear to significantly improve the QoL. Compared with other therapeutic agents, more studies are required to confirm the effect of single and combined bDMARDs use further.