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. 2017 May 3;7(1):1429.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01588-5.

Risk of infections in patients with gout: a population-based cohort study

B Spaetgens  1   2   3 , F de Vries  4   5   6 , J H M Driessen  1   3   7 , H G Leufkens  1 , P C Souverein  1 , A Boonen  2   3 , J W M van der Meer  8 , L A B Joosten  8
Affiliations

Risk of infections in patients with gout: a population-based cohort study

B Spaetgens et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

To investigate the risk of various types of infections (pneumonia and urinary tract infection (UTI)), and infection-related mortality in patients with gout compared with population-based controls. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). All patients with a first diagnosis of gout and aged >40 years between January 1987-July 2014, were included and matched with up to two controls. Time-varying Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risk of infections and mortality. 131,565 patients and 252,763 controls (mean age: 64 years, 74% males, mean follow-up of 6.7 years) were included in the full cohort. After full statistical adjustment, the risk of pneumonia was increased (adj. HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.36), while the risk of UTI (adj. HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.01) was similar in patients compared to controls. No differences between patients and controls were observed for infection-related mortality due to pneumonia (adj. HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.14) or UTI (adj. HR 1.16, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.37). In conclusion, patients with gout did not have decreased risks of pneumonia, UTI or infection-related mortality compared to population-based controls.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study subjects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Bringt Gicht dem Immunsystem Power?
    Heppner HJ. Heppner HJ. MMW Fortschr Med. 2018 Feb;160(3):36. doi: 10.1007/s15006-018-0195-8. MMW Fortschr Med. 2018. PMID: 29464624 German. No abstract available.

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