Aneesha Rahman

Title: Cardiovascular risk assessment in Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) patients: Are we missing opportunities for early Intervention?

Abstract

Aims:

To identify whether the QRISK3 score is undertaken in PsA patients and to recommend improvements for cardiovascular risk screening per the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The guidelines recommend managing modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, in confirmed PsA patients.1

Methods:

We selected adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PsA (n=93) under the care of the rheumatology unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Using the shared GP record, our analysis focused on whether patients had a QRISK3 score performed.

Results:

Results show that only 20% of patients had a QRISK score in the past five years.

However, there were no significant differences between the groups categorised by BMI, age, and cholesterol, with a p-value greater than 0.05 for all. Among patients with a QRISK, 0% had a history of ischaemic heart disease, compared to 7% without a QRISK.

Recommendations:

The results suggest that cardiovascular risks are monitored in PsA patients despite a lack of formal assessment of cardiovascular risk in general practice. To address this, hospitals should calculate the QRISK score at diagnosis on Prescribing Information and Communications System (PICS) and increase awareness in general practice for carrying out cardiovascular risk assessment during medical reviews.

References:

1. NICE. CKS is only available in the UK. NICE. [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2024 Oct 25]. Available at: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/spondyloarthritis-psoriaticarthropathy/management/confirmed-spondyloarthritis-or-psoriatic-arthropathy/

What will the audience take away from your presentation?

The audience will be able to understand the importance of multidisciplinary interactions and communications and how regular and precise communication can massively impact patients health. Audience members will be able to take back the importance of cardiovascular screening in psoriatic arthritic patients. In their field of work audience members will also be able to apply this in practice, for example if something is missing from patient’s data, they will be able to see the importance of actively finding missing information. We have provided suggestions of solutions that could be put in place to tackle the lack of QRISK3 being done in patients who are at risk.