Hidradenitis suppurativa patients experience musculoskeletal symptom burden: A quality improvement project using the IDEOM MSK-Q

Summary: Abstract Body: This quality improvement project applies the International Dermatology Outcome Measures (IDEOM) Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (MSK-Q) to assess MSK symptom burden in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) patients. The MSK-Q is a 9-item tool scored on a 10-point scale, with subscores evaluating MSK symptom severity, impact, and fatigue in the past week1. Over 17 months, we distributed the IDEOM MSK-Q to 97 HS patients and collected demographic and clinical data. The mean age was 35.28 +/- 13.06; 37.1% were black or African American, 36.1% other, 18.5 % white, and 6.2% Asian. Average BMI was 31.55 +/- 7.86. 77.1% of patients reported joint pain, swelling, or stiffness, and 30.2% had baseline MSK disorders, most commonly osteoarthritis (n = 6). MSK symptoms were shown to have the greatest impact on daily physical activities (mean impact rating 4.97 +/- 3.59). Spearman's rank-order correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between Hurley stage and reported impact of MSK symptoms on daily physical activities (correlation coefficient = 0.033; p = 0.262) and work or school activities (correlation coefficient = 0.015; p = 0.297). Additionally, 55.1% of patients ranked fatigue ≥7/10 (mean fatigue rating 6.17 +/- 3.07), suggesting an inflammatory burden of the skin and/or joints. Our analysis shows substantial MSK symptom burden amongst HS patients. The IDEOM MSK-Q may be a valuable tool for assessing MSK symptoms and impact, highlighting the need for further development and validation in the HS population. References: 1. Zundell MP, Woodbury MJ, Lee K, et al. Report of the Skin Research Workgroups From the IDEOM Breakout at the GRAPPA 2022 Annual Meeting. J Rheumatol. 2023;50(Suppl 2):47-50. doi:10.3899/jrheum.2023-0528 Sarah Romanelli¹, Gretchen D. Ball¹, Zachary Levy¹, Hassan Hamade¹, Mark Taliercio¹, Lourdes Perez-Chada², Joseph Merola³, Alice B. Gottlieb¹ 1. Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States. 2. Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States. 3. Dermatology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States. Clinical Research: Epidemiology and Observational Research