Effect of pSoriatiC Arthritis on Plantar shEar Stress (ESCAPES)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is toe dactylitis in psoriatic arthritis related to increased plantar shear stress? A case control pilot study.
IRAS ID
255483
Contact name
Philip Helliwell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic arthritis in the presence of psoriasis. It can affect quality of life and some PsA patients experience dactylitis, or sausage digit, a uniformly swollen digit of the fourth toe and index finger which can be painful. The role of trauma in the onset of dactylitis has been suggested but not investigated systematically. Our previous research found no evidence linking foot pressures and the prevalence of toe dactylitis which suggests that foot pressure alone provides limited understanding of toe dactylitis. We now intend to extend this investigation to plantar shear stresses on the sole of the feet in vertical, front/back and side/side directions. This study has the potential to offer a conservative solution to the prevention and treatment of dactylitis.
Up to 60 PsA patients will be recruited from the spondyloarthropathy and foot health clinics in the rheumatology departments at Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds.
Consenting participants will be asked to attend a single appointment in which clinical details will be collected (demographics and disease duration) and tender/swollen joint count, foot type and footwear assessment will be conducted. Participant will also be asked to complete three quality of life measures; Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Psoriatic Arthritis Quality of Life (PsAQoL) and Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID12). Participants will also be asked to walk barefoot, at a self-selected speed, over a shear pressure platform to acquire the magnitude and distribution of plantar shear stress applied to the sole of their feet during level walking. Twenty healthy control participants will also be recruited to participate in this study as the comparator group.
Four major plantar stress variables for each participant will be recorded; peak pressure, peak shear stress, peak pressure-time integral and peak shear-time integral, under key regions; the hallux, the lesser toes and the metatarsal heads.REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0944
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jun 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion