Rheumatology Network reports on the findings of an HSS study led by Sergio Schwartzman, MD, rheumatologist at HSS, and presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting, which found more than half of patients in a psoriatic arthritis (PsA) cohort reported the use of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) in a 12-month period.

Rheumatology Network spoke to Dr. Schwartzman about the findings, who explained, “CAM use is common in the general population but has never been completely evaluated in a cohort of patients with validated CASPAR criteria.” After comparing medication use among those who used CAM and those who didn’t, the researchers found that CAM users were less likely to use biologics and targeted synthetics, however the finding was not statistically significant. Overall, nearly 90 percent of patients using these modalities reported CAM was somewhat helpful.

Dr. Schwartzman concluded, “I wouldn’t support CAM to the exclusion of traditional therapies; however, while CAM for the most part has not been studied prospectively in RCTs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that these modalities are not effective.”

Read the article at Rheumatologynetwork.com.