An evaluation of gout visits in the United States for the years 2007 to 2011

BACKGROUND: This study analyzed visits for and factors associated with gout and gout medication treatment trends for the years 2007–2011 in the United States given the introduction of febuxostat, the first new treatment option for gout in over 40 years, which was introduced to the market in 2009. METHODS: This study was a retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study of patients age 20 and older seen by providers who participated in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Outpatient Department (NHAMCS-OPD) or Emergency Department (NHAMCS-ED) in the United States. The outcome of interest was visits for gout diagnosis and visits where a gout medication was prescribed. RESULTS: Approximately 1.2% of visits had a diagnosis of gout. There was a significant increase in the percentage of visits with a diagnosis of gout in years 2009–2011 compared to 2007–2008, which remained after adjusting for covariates of interest. Groups more likely to have a visit with gout included those ≥65 and 45–64 (both as compared to those 20–44), the African-American and ‘Other’ race groups (as compared to Caucasians) and those on a diuretic. Groups less likely to have a visit with gout included females, Hispanic/Latinos, those with insurance type of ‘Other’ and Medicaid (both as compared to private insurance) and visits to a hospital emergency setting (as compared to physician’s office visits). CONCLUSION: Although there was a significant increase in visits where gout is diagnosed across study years, the overall percentage of visits with a gout diagnosis is low in the US population. Treatment trends over the study years has remained consistent, with the introduction of febuxostat appearing to have little impact for the study years through 2011.