A remarkable lack of detailed knowledge on pain areas in Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) is present, and their clinical relevance is quite unknown. The main aim of the study was to explore pain areas in PsA, comparing them with those involved in Fibromyalgia (FM) patients. In addition, to investigate any possible association between pain areas and outcome measures in PsA.
Case-control study on PsA patients satisfying CASPAR criteria and FM. In all PsA and FM patients a body chart filled in by the patient in 80 body locations was performed. The Widespread Pain Index (WPI) was performed in all PsA and FM patients. In all PsA patients, an assessment of disease activity, treatment target, function, and impact of disease were carried out.
50 PsA patients and 50 FM controls with FM were evaluated. A significantly higher number of pain areas at body chart and WPI score were found in FM patients when compared to PsA patients. In PsA, the number of areas reported at body chart significantly correlated with DAPSA, HAQ-DI and PsAID. Patients who were not in remission/MDA or have a greater impact of disease or reduced function showed a significant high number of extra-articular pain areas involved.
The main results showed that widespread and extra-articular pain was present in PsA patients, showing that this non-articular pain had an impact on important disease domains. The present study could contribute to an important aspect of this challenging and multifaceted disease, such as the assessment of widespread pain.

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