Sex Matters: Sex- And Gender-based analysis of the Effectiveness of advanced therapies in Psoriatic Arthritis (SAGE-PsA) - an international multicentre study

The the development of new medications for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has significantly improved care. However, despite the effectiveness of these medications many patients do not fully respond. Sex and gender are important factors that influence treatment response in PsA. Women with PsA are less likely to achieve remission - they are more likely to experience side effects and they tend to stop treatments earlier than men. Thus, it is surprising that very little attention has been given so far to understanding which sex- and gender-related mechanisms explain these differences in treatment outcomes. Sex and gender overlap, but are not identical. Therefore, we hypothesize that social and cultural factors related to being a man or woman, are likely to influence drug response differently from biological factors associated with sex (being male or female). The aim of this multicentre study is to understand how sex and gender influence response to advanced therapies in PsA. We hope to discover biological and socio-cultural mechanisms that explain these differences in treatment response between men and women with PsA. We plan to perform a study involving patients with PsA from diverse populations from 13 sites across the world. Men and women with active PsA will be assessed before and after they start advanced therapies and information will be collected about sex- and gender-related factors through questionnaires. Physicians will assess the patient response to treatment. We will compare the response to treatment in men and women and assess what biological and socio-cultural factors contribute to differences in treatment response. The results of the study will expand our understanding of the impact of sex and gender on PsA which will contribute to more personalized approach to care in this patient population.