Biologics are effective in treating psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriasis. However, biologics are costly, and can cause side effects, such as an increased risk of infection. These disadvantages could be reduced by treat-to-target dose tapering strategies, once the disease is under control. However, in these patients, dose tapering of biologics not systematically performed, since evidence is lacking. This thesis investigated disease activity-guided tapering in several ways. Tapering proved to be effective and safe in patients with a stable low disease activity, with a substantial decrease in dose of biologics. Future studies in psoriasis should focus on generating more uniform data, since current literature report widely varying tapering criteria and strategies, which makes it difficult to draw general conclusions.
C.A.J. Michielsens achieved her Master’s degree at the Radboud University of Medical sciences in 2018. Thereafter, she started her PhD at the Sint Maartensliniek, department of Rheumatology. She currently works as a dermatology resident at Amphia hospital in Breda.