Disease Burden of Occupations on Patients With PsA

Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who work in occupations that require manual labor appear to have more work-related disability than those in sedentary jobs, a study published in Clinical Rheumatology reported.

However, occupation type does not affect treatment response, the investigators stated.

Researchers explored the impact of occupation type on disease activity, work disability, and drug response/retention rates in patients with PsA. Patients with PsA from the Swiss cohort (SCQM) were categorized as blue-collar workers, who engage in manual labor, or white-collar workers, with sedentary occupations. At the start of treatment with biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (b-/tsDMARD), the baseline characteristics and disease activity (DAS28-CRP) for 1-year remission were assessed. Of the 564 patients included, 29% were blue collar workers compared to 71% white collar workers. While disease activity at baseline was similar in both groups, blue collar workers were predominantly male (79.8%) and had significantly higher work disability rates (84.0% v. 27.9% in white collar; p < 0.01).

The researchers analyzed longitudinally 174 treatment courses among 165 patients. Occupation type did not significantly impact the achievement of DAS28-CRP remission at one year. Kaplan–Meier analysis of 671 treatment courses showed longer treatment retention for blue collar workers (3.15 years vs. 2.15 years for white collar workers; p = 0.006), but these findings were not supported by adjusted Cox regression analysis.

The study noted that further research is necessary to fully understand how biomechanical stress from physical work might influence disease activity and treatment outcomes in patients with PsA.

Reference
Colla N, Maul JT, Vallejo-Yagüe E, et al. Impact of blue-collar vs. white-collar occupations on disease burden in psoriatic arthritis patients: A Swiss clinical quality management in rheumatic diseases cohort study. Clin Rheumatol. Published online August 7, 2024. doi:10.1007/s10067-024-07077-1