Strict Disease Control Criteria Linked to Increased Work Productivity for Patients with PsA

William Tillett, MD

Credit: Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases

Improvements in work productivity among individuals with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treated with bimekizumab for up to 1 year were linked with achievement of increasingly stringent criteria for disease control and lower disease activity, according to recent findings.¹

These findings as well as others resulted from a recent abstract, titled ‘Achieving Stringent Disease Control Criteria Was Associated with Greater Work Productivity Improvements in Patients with Active Psoriatic Arthritis: Results from Two Phase 3 Studies of Bimekizumab,’ presented at at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2024 in Washington, DC.

PsA is a chronic inflammatory condition impacting the skin and the joints. It is known to negatively affect those with the disease in terms of ability to function and physical health, potentially contributing to diminished productivity at work.

“We examined the association between achieving stringent disease control criteria and improvements in work productivity in patients with PsA to 1 year, using data from two phase 3 trials,” Tillett and colleagues wrote.¹

Study Design

The research team’s study was conducted as a post-hoc analysis, implementing data from two phase 3 clinical trials, BE OPTIMAL and BE COMPLETE. They assessed those given subcutaneous bimekizumab administration at a dose of 160 mg every 4 weeks.

Subjects who finished by the 52-week mark of BE OPTIMAL or the 16-week mark of BE COMPLETE were considered by the team to be eligible to continue in the BE VITAL open-label extension. Both studies were double-blind and placebo-controlled through the 16-week mark.

The investigators’ key endpoints used for their evaluation of disease control included minimal disease activity (MDA), the Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA), the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) response criteria, and a composite endpoint involving ACR ≥50% improvement and 100% improvement combined on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (ACR50+PASI100).

Impairments in activity and work activities (WPAI) were monitored by the investigative team up to the 52-week mark in BE OPTIMAL and the 40-week mark in BE COMPLETE. Some of the dimensions of WPAI that the team analyzed included absenteeism, presenteeism, overall work issues, and activity issues.

The researchers investigated the connection between disease control achievement and percentage improvements in subjects’ WPAI scores at the Week 52 and 40 points for BE OPTIMAL and BE COMPLETE, respectively.

Notable Results

The investigators reported that, among those who were randomized to bimekizumab, 90.0% of those included in the BE OPTIMAL analysis and 92.1% of those in the BE COMPLETE analysis finished out their respective trial durations. Mean WPAI scores at the point of baseline for those who were either disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-naïve or had TNF-inhibitor inadequate response/intolerance (TNFi-IR) were shown to be comparable.

Specifically, the team concluded that the overall rates of work impairment were 37.0% and 40.7%, rates of absenteeism were 7.7% and 9.7%, those of presenteeism were 34.8% and 38.0%, and rates of activity impairment were 43.2% and 46.5%, respectively. Significant improvements in productivity levels by the 52-week or 40-week marks were seen among those with stricter disease control criteria, as assessed by DAPSA, ACR, MDA, and ACR50+PASI100.

These shifts in productivity were most notable in the WPAI domains of presenteeism, overall impairment at work, and activity impairment. Both bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR individuals were noted by the team as having similar productivity gains, although MDA responders in the bDMARD-naïve cohort were shown to have more pronounced improvements versus non-responders, relative to their TNFi-IR counterparts.

“Achievement of increasingly stringent disease control criteria and lower disease activity was associated with greater improvements in work productivity up to 1 year in patients with PsA,” they wrote. “Similar improvements were observed in bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients.”¹

References

1. ^{Tillett W, Gladman D, Walsh J, et al. Achieving Stringent Disease Control Criteria Was Associated with Greater Work Productivity Improvements in Patients with Active Psoriatic Arthritis: Results from Two Phase 3 Studies of Bimekizumab [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2024; 76 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/achieving-stringent-disease-control-criteria-was-associated-with-greater-work-productivity-improvements-in-patients-with-active-psoriatic-arthritis-results-from-two-phase-3-studies-of-bimekizumab/. Date accessed: November 25, 2024.}