Psoriatic Arthritis | Treatment Algorithms | Claims Data Analysis | US | 2015
For the estimated 1.6 million people in the United States who suffer from psoriatic arthritis (PsA), there are multiple prescription therapies that are available for treating the associated joint and skin symptoms. The guidelines published by the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) and the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) provide evidence-based recommendations to guide PsA treatment. Treatment recommendations begin with a conventional DMARD first-line and then move on to a biologic, commonly a TNF-alpha inhibitor, or step up to combination therapy.
Using national patient-level claims data, this report analyzes physician adherence to the treatment guidelines by exploring the use of key therapies in the newly diagnosed and recently treated PsA patient populations. Among the newly diagnosed patients, the report provides a quantitative analysis of treatment patterns and share by line of therapy, as well as progression between lines, duration of treatment on each line, and use of concomitant treatment. Among recently treated patients, the report quantifies a drug’s source of business compared with its competitors and details which drugs precede others through an analysis of add-versus-switch patterns. Additional analyses explore persistency and compliance by brand.