C-Reactive Protein Testing is More Widely Used in Europe than the US in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Psoriatic Arthritis

C-reactive protein (CRP) testing is conducted more frequently in Europe for the diagnosis and monitoring of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) than in the US.

In a study published in Rheumatology Therapy, researchers investigated how CRP testing is implemented in real-world clinical practice for disease management of PsA by conducting a point-in-time survey of rheumatologists and dermatologists and their next 6 consulting patients with PsA. CRP testing use data was gathered by asking the physician on the survey whether CRP testing was used to aid PsA diagnosis and/or to monitor the patient’s disease activity.

A total of 2270 patients were included in the study and in the UK, CRP testing was conducted to aid diagnosis in 78.7% of patients and CRP was used to monitor disease activity in 72.0%. This is compared with 43.4% and 34.6% in the US, respectively. Rheumatologists were more likely to test CRP for monitoring purposes. CRP testing was conducted a mean ± standard deviation of 2.7 ± 1.7 times during the last 12 months in the UK and 2.0 ± 1.4 in the US.

“CRP was more commonly used for the diagnosis and monitoring of PsA in Europe compared to the USA and was more commonly ordered by rheumatologists than dermatologists,” concluded the study authors.

Reference
Ogdie A, Tillett W, Booth N, et al. Usage of C-Reactive Protein Testing in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA): Results from a Real-World Survey in the USA and Europe. Rheumatol Ther. Published online January 15, 2022. doi:10.1007/s40744-021-00420-x