Hand functions and joint position sense in patients with psoriatic arthritis- a comparison with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy controls.

BACKGROUND

Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory arthropathy accompanied by peripheral and axial joint involvement. Hand involvement has been demonstrated by various imaging methods in patients with psoriatic arthritis. However, few studies evaluated the hand in terms of functionality. The aim of the study is to compare hand functions and wrist joint position sense in psoriatic arthritis with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy controls.

METHODS

Patients with psoriatic arthritis (n = 21), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 21), and healthy controls (n = 21) were included in this cross-sectional study. The measurements were performed by a hand dynamometer for grip strength and endurance, and by a pinchmeter for pinch strength. Disability of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire was used to evaluate the functional disability. A goniometric test was used to assess wrist joint position sense.

FINDING: Patients with psoriatic arthritis had worse hand functional outcomes and higher position errors than healthy controls (p < 0.05). In addition, in terms of all variables, patients with psoriatic arthritis were found to be similar to the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (p > 0.05).

INTERPRETATION: Our study revealed that hand functions and wrist joint position sense were affected as much in patients with psoriatic arthritis as in patients with rheumatoid arthritis whose hand involvement is frequently reported in the literature. The grip endurance in psoriatic arthritis was assessed for the first time. Our results highlighted the necessity of treatment programs that include strength, endurance, and proprioception in patients with psoriatic arthritis who have hand involvement at least as much as those with rheumatoid arthritis.