Psoriatic Arthritis

Percentage of Newly Diagnosed Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis Starting Biologic Agents who had Tuberculosis Testing

2018-2022

Percentage of Newly Diagnosed Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis Starting Biologic Agents who had Tuberculosis Testing (N = 357)

2018-2022

The 2015 American College of Rheumatology Guidelines for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis recommends tuberculosis (TB) screening before using biologic agents to identify latent TB infection (LTBI)¹. A similar screening algorithm is appropriate to apply to the use of biologic agents with Psoriatic Arthritis. The ACR recommends a the tuberculin skin test or interferon-γ release assays as the initial test in all patients starting biologic agents, regardless of risk factors for LTBI. Of newly diagnosed psoriatic arthritis patients, 95.7% in 2018 (112 of 117), 89.3% in 2019 (67 of 75), 91.7% in 2020 (66 of 72), 100% in 2021 (31 of 31), and 100% in 2022 (62 of 62) had TB testing.

¹Singh JA, Saag KG, Bridges SL Jr, Akl EA, Bannuru RR, Sullivan MC, Vaysbrot E, McNaughton C, Osani M, Shmerling RH, Curtis JR, Furst DE, Parks D, Kavanaugh A, O'Dell J, King C, Leong A, Matteson EL, Schousboe JT, Drevlow B, Ginsberg S, Grober J, St Clair EW, Tindall E, Miller AS, McAlindon T. 2015 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. 2016 Jan;68(1):1-25.

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