Rates of Cardiovascular Disease and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis Compared to Patients Without Psoriatic Arthritis

BACKGROUND Few studies report estimates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). OBJECTIVE To estimate rates of incident CVD and MACE in patients with PsA compared to patients without PsA. METHODS Using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we conducted 2 cohort studies of patients with PsA compared to patients without PsA or psoriasis matched on age, sex, general practice, and calendar time: 1 study of CVD and 1 study of MACE. In each study, we excluded patients who had a study outcome before cohort entry. Cases were patients with a first-time diagnosis of CVD or MACE recorded during follow-up. We estimated incidence rates (IRs) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and stratified results in the PsA cohort by exposure to systemic PsA treatments. RESULTS The IR of CVD was higher in the patients with PsA compared to those without PsA (12.8/1000 person-years [PYs] [95% CI, 11.9-13.7] and 9.6/1000 PYs [95% CI, 9.3-9.0]; IRR, 1.33 [95% CI, 1.23-1.44]). The IR of MACE was slightly higher in the PsA compared to the non-PsA cohort (4.6/1000 PYs [95% CI, 4.1-5.1] and 3.5/1000 PYs [95% CI, 3.4-3.7]; IRR, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.15-1.47]). Among the patients with PsA, IRs were higher for those who received PsA treatments for both outcomes but did not differ significantly by type of treatment received. CONCLUSIONS The rates of CVD and MACE were slightly higher in the patients with PsA compared to the patients without PsA. Among the patients with PsA, rates of both outcomes were higher among those who received prescriptions for systemic PsA treatments.