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. 2018 Aug;45(8):1188-1191.
doi: 10.3899/jrheum.171320. Epub 2018 Jul 1.

Hospitalization Increases the Risk of Acute Arthritic Flares in Gout: A Population-based Study over 2 Decades

Nour Zleik  1   2 , Mohanad M Elfishawi  1   2 , Zoran Kvrgic  1   2 , Clement J Michet Jr  1   2 , Cynthia S Crowson  3   4 , Eric L Matteson  1   2 , Tim Bongartz  1   2
Affiliations

Hospitalization Increases the Risk of Acute Arthritic Flares in Gout: A Population-based Study over 2 Decades

Nour Zleik et al. J Rheumatol. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To assess in-hospital gout flares in patients with gout.

Methods: Hospitalizations were evaluated for gout flares in a cohort of Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with incident gout in 1989-1992 or 2009-2010.

Results: There were 429 patients followed up to 5 years. Of these, 169 patients experienced 454 hospitalizations. Hospitalization rates increased without reaching statistical significance from 1989-1992 to 2009-2010 [rate ratio (RR) 1.19, 95% CI 0.98-1.45]. The gout flare rate increased significantly during hospitalization (RR 10.2, 95% CI 6.8-14.5). In-hospital gout flare increased the average hospital stay by 1.8 days (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Hospitalization increased the risk of gout flares 10-fold. In-hospital gout flares were associated with longer hospitalization.

Keywords: GOUT; HEALTHCARE USE; HOSPITALIZATION; HYPERURICEMIA.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative incidence of first hospitalization following a diagnosis of gout in 1989–1992 (dashed line) and 2009–2010 (solid line).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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