A Threshold of Meaning for Work Disability Improvement in Psoriatic Arthritis Measured by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire

Introduction The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Specific Health Problem Questionnaire (WPAI:SHP) is used to assess the impact of an intervention on work productivity in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Unfortunately, studies reporting changes or improvements in domains of WPAI:SHP by patients with PsA have a limited threshold of meaning due to the absence of published minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs). Our objective was to determine the MCIDs for improvement in WPAI:SHP in patients with active PsA. Methods MCIDs for WPAI:SHP domains (presenteeism, work productivity loss, and activity impairment) were derived for patients with active PsA who were biologic naive or TNF inhibitor (TNFi) experienced using 24-week results from two phase 3 trials (SPIRIT-P1 and SPIRIT-P2). MCIDs were derived using the anchor-based method supplemented by the distribution-based method. Anchors included achievement of the American College of Rheumatology 20 responder index (ACR20), the minimal disease activity (MDA), and the Health Assessment Questionnaire and Disability Index (HAQ-DI) MCID (improvement >= 0.35). Anchor validity was assessed by biserial correlation and analysis of covariance modeling against the domains. MCIDs were triangulated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) method supplemented by the distribution-based method. Results The analyses included 417 biologic-naive and 363 TNFi-experienced patients. ACR20, MDA, and HAQ-DI were valid anchors. Significant differences in WPAI:SHP domain scores were observed between patients achieving ACR20, MDA, or HAQ-DI compared to patients not achieving these clinical thresholds (all P < 0.001). ROC analyses suggested that a >= 20% improvement in presenteeism, a 15% improvement in work productivity loss, and a 20% improvement in activity impairment represented clinically meaningful improvements in both populations. The distribution-based method supported the results. Conclusion MCIDs for the presenteeism, work productivity loss, and activity impairment domains were estimated to be 20%, 15%, and 20%, respectively, in biologic-naive or TNFi-experienced PsA populations. These results will help improve the meaningfulness of WPAI:SHP improvements reported by PsA patients. Funding Eli Lilly and Company.