PRESENTATION TITLE: 
The burden of psoriatic arthritis foot disease

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION: 
Typically affecting young people at working age, psoriatic arthritis is associated with a higher disease burden than rheumatoid arthritis and yet this distinct disease is under-researched and poorly understood. Major challenges in the management of psoriatic arthritis include misdiagnosis and diagnostic delays, which is often due to the under-recognition of musculoskeletal and dermatological symptoms. Hallmark features of psoriatic arthritis, such as enthesitis, dactylitis and peripheral arthritis, are predominant and persistent in the foot and ankle. Therefore, podiatrists are well positioned to both screen for the disease and manage foot problems. 

This presentation will focus on providing a comprehensive view of the wide-reaching impact of psoriatic foot disease from the patient perspective and will inform on targeted strategies towards improving foot health and the patient experience. It will cover the typical and less common clinical features of localised disease expression of psoriatic arthritis in the foot, and outline assessment and diagnostic techniques to screen patients for an underlying spondyloarthropathy. Recommendations for overall management principles and the key lessons learned from the approach adopted in our specialist rheumatology foot clinics will be shared.

BIO:
Kate Carter has 18 years of podiatry clinical experience, specialising particularly in rheumatology and musculoskeletal conditions. Before moving to Australia in 2016, she worked in Singapore as a senior podiatrist at a tertiary hospital where she established podiatry services within a multidisciplinary rheumatology clinic. In Singapore she was part of the Ministry of Health Clinical Practice Guideline panel for developing local guidelines for rheumatoid arthritis and was awarded best Clinical Practice Improvement Programme in 2015 for increasing referrals to podiatry within the rheumatology clinic. This work translated into 4 publications as well as poster and oral presentations at national and international conferences in rheumatology and clinical innovation.

​Kate left Singapore in order to uptake a 3 year full-time PhD Scholarship at Western Sydney University, relocating to Australia to work on a programme of research focusing on foot involvement in people with psoriatic arthritis. She currently works in conjunction with South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) at the Liverpool Hospital Rheumatology Department, an integrated specialist podiatry service at BJC Health private rheumatology clinic in Sydney and she is part of the local allied health organising committee as an early career researcher.