Real‐World Treatment Patterns, Clinical Outcomes, and Symptom Burden in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis Prescribed Ixekizumab in the United States

Objective The objective of this study was to describe the real‐world characteristics and clinical status of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) currently prescribed ixekizumab. Methods Data were drawn from the Adelphi PsA Plus Disease Specific Programme (DSP), a cross‐sectional survey conducted in the United States between September 2021 and March 2022. Rheumatologists provided data for their next five consulting patients currently receiving ixekizumab, including demographic and clinical characteristics, disease severity, treatment history, reasons for treatment choice, satisfaction with current treatment, and current and historic symptom burden. Patients voluntarily completed questionnaires, providing perceptional data on symptom burden and satisfaction with current treatment. Results Overall, 68 rheumatologists provided data on 275 patients with PsA, 90 of whom completed the voluntary questionnaire. Patients had been prescribed ixekizumab for a mean of 11.7 (SD 10.6) months. Clinical characteristics, disease severity, and symptom burden of patients with PsA improved significantly from ixekizumab initiation to the most recent consultation, including symptom burden, tender and swollen joint counts, and body surface area affected by psoriasis (all P < 0.001). Both rheumatologists and patients were satisfied with ixekizumab treatment and reported improvements in pain and fatigue. Improvements were noted after more than three months of ixekizumab treatment duration and regardless of whether the patients had prior exposure to an advanced therapy or were treatment naïve. Conclusion Our results indicate that ixekizumab was efficacious in the treatment of PsA in real‐world clinical practice, complementing efficacy data from randomized controlled clinical trials. The results of this study may assist rheumatologists and their patients in making informed treatment choices.