The comparative performance of three screening questionnaires for psoriatic arthritis in a primary care surveillance study

PROMPT Study Group

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the performance of three psoriatic arthritis (PsA) screening questionnaires in a primary care psoriasis surveillance study.

METHODS: Participants with psoriasis, and not known to have psoriatic arthritis (PsA), were identified from general practice databases and invited to attend a secondary care centre for a clinical assessment. The three patient-completed screening questionnaires (PEST, CONTEST, and CONTESTjt) were administered along with other patient reported measures and a clinical examination of skin and joints was performed. Participants who demonstrated signs of inflammatory arthritis suggestive of PsA were referred, via their GP, for a further assessment in a secondary care rheumatology clinic.

RESULTS: A total of 791 participants attended the screening visit and 165 participants were judged to have signs and symptoms of inflammatory arthritis, of which 150 were referred for assessment. Of these 126 were seen and 48 were diagnosed with PsA. The results for each questionnaire were as follows: PEST: Sensitivity 0.625 (95% CI 0.482-0.749), specificity 0.757 (0.724-0.787). CONTEST: Sensitivity 0.604 (0.461-0.731), specificity 0.768 (0.736-0.798). CONTESTjt: Sensitivity 0.542 (0.401-0.676), specificity 0.834 (0.805-0.859). CONTESTjt demonstrated marginally superior specificity to PEST though the area under the ROC curve was similar for all three instruments.

CONCLUSIONS: Minimal differences between the three screening questionnaires were found in this study and no preference can be made based on these results. The choice of which instrument to choose will depend on other factors, such as simplicity and low patient burden.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)991-998
Number of pages8
JournalRheumatology (Oxford, England)
Volume63
Issue number4
Early online date21 Jun 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding: This report is independent research funded by the National Institute for
Health Research, Programme Grants for Applied Research [Early detection to
improve outcome in patients with undiagnosed PsA (‘PROMPT’), RP-PG-1212-
20007]. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Data Availability Statement

The data underlying this article may be shared on reasonable request to the study Chief Investigator, Prof Neil McHugh.

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