Table 1.
Baseline demographic and gout characteristics
| Characteristics | Women | Men | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| N = 262 | N = 1011 | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Age (mean years, SD) | 71.2 (±10.7) | 60.9 (±13.5) | <0.0001 |
| Race (White n, %) | 219 (84) | 897 (89) | 0.024 |
| Private insurance (n, %) | 152 (58) | 757 (75) | <0.001 |
| Comorbid conditions | |||
| BMI (mean, SD) | 33.5 (±7.8) | 31.9 (±6.5) | 0.001 |
| Osteoarthritis (n, %) | 120 (46) | 256 (25) | <0.001 |
| Other inflammatory arthritis (n,%) | 19 (7) | 34 (3) | <0.001 |
| Medical comorbidities (n,%) | |||
| Heart disease | 41 (16) | 147 (14) | 0.652 |
| Hypertension | 201 (77) | 574 (57) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 73 (28) | 168 (17) | <0.001 |
| Renal disease | 64 (24) | 136 (13) | <0.001 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 120 (46) | 394 (39) | 0.045 |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 2 (1) | 13 (1) | 0.485 |
| Functional Status (mean, SD) | |||
| Number of days unable to do usual work/activities in the prior 3 months | 11.1 (±23.7) | 6.9 (±195) | 0.003 |
| Health Assessment Questionnaire | |||
| Age adjusted means | 0.59 (±0.11) | 0.49 (±0.13) | <0.001 |
| Medications that may trigger gout (n, %) | |||
| Aspirin | 76 (29) | 285 (28) | 0.794 |
| HCTZ | 51 (20) | 105 (10) | <0.001 |
| Diuretics other than HCTZ | 83 (32) | 116 (11) | <0.001 |
| Gout characteristics | |||
| Family history (n, %) | 180 (69) | 682 (67) | 0.701 |
| Crystal proven (n, %) | 65 (25) | 346 (34) | 0.004 |
| Duration of gout (mean, SD) | 6.1 (±7.1) | 11.0 (±9.8) | <0.0001 |
| Maximum serum uric acid (mean, SD) | 8.8 (±2.3) | 8.7 (±2.1) | 0.481 |
| Current serum uric acid (mean, SD)a | 5.9 (±2.6) | 6.0 (±1.9) | 0.449 |
| Presence of tophi (n, %) | 60 (23) | 224 (22) | 0.791 |
| Contraindications for treatment with: | 11 (10) | 66 (16) | 0.0.170 |
| NSAIDS | 80 (31) | 206 (20) | <0.001 |
| Colchicine | 32 (12) | 61 (6) | 0.001 |
| Flare frequency in prior 12 months (mean, SD) | 3.5 (±6.4) | 3.7 (±8.2) | 0.692 |
| Health care utilization due to gout (n, %) | |||
| Proportion of patients with hospitalizations for gout in the past 3 years | 7 (3) | 19 (2) | |
| Proportion with an ER visit for a gout flare in the past 12 months | 37 (14) | 118 (12) | 0.275 |
| Proportion with an outpatient physician visit for a gout flare in the past 12 months | 124 (48) | 479 (48) | 0.918 |
| Frequency of health care utilization for a flare in the prior 12 months: | |||
| ER visits (mean, SD) | 0.32 (±1.17) | 0.26 (1.49) | 0.560 |
| Outpatient encounters (mean, SD) | 1.40 (±2.64) | 1.30 (±2.68) | 0.613 |
alaboratory data were available for 215 women and 870 men with gout