Table 1.
Demographic and co-morbid characteristics of the Taiwan and UK cohorts
| Characteristics | Taiwan cohort | UK cohort | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gout cases (n = 74 560) | People without gout (n = 74 560) | P-value | Gout cases (n = 34 505) | People without gout (n = 34 505) | P-value | |
| Age, mean (s.d.), years | 48.8 (16.4) | 48.8 (16.4) | NA | 61.4 (14.8) | 61.1 (14.8) | NA |
| Male, n (%) | 54 583 (73.21) | 54 583 (73.21) | NA | 25 410 (73.64) | 25 410 (73.64) | NA |
| Observation years, median (IQR) | ||||||
| Prior to index date | 10.3 (10.0–10.5) | 10.3 (10.0–10.5) | 0.277 | 5.7 (3.1–9.3) | 5.6 (2.9–9.3) | <0.001 |
| After index date | 8.5 (8.2–8.7) | 8.5 (8.2–8.7) | <0.001 | 8.8 (4.9–11.6) | 8.8 (4.8–11.7) | <0.001 |
| CCI scores, n (%) | ||||||
| Mean (s.d.) | 0.28 (0.74) | 0.22 (0.71) | <0.001 | 0.32 (0.75) | 0.19 (0.57) | <0.001 |
| 0 | 60 774 (81.51) | 63 913 (85.72) | <0.001 | 27 038 (78.36) | 29 717 (86.12) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 9283 (12.45) | 7036 (9.44) | 4939 (14.31) | 3425 (9.92) | ||
| ≥2 | 4503 (6.04) | 3611 (4.84) | 2528 (7.33) | 1363 (3.95) | ||
| Co-morbidities, n (%) | ||||||
| RA | 99 (0.13) | 157 (0.21) | <0.001 | 108 (0.31) | 139 (0.40) | 0.048 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 5297 (7.10) | 4504 (6.04) | <0.001 | 2295 (6.65) | 1792 (5.19) | <0.001 |
| OA | 5219 (7.00) | 3134 (4.20) | <0.001 | 1957 (5.67) | 1319 (3.82) | <0.001 |
| Hip fracture | 147 (0.20) | 150 (0.20) | 0.862 | 11 (0.03) | 15 (0.04) | 0.432 |
| Co-medications, n (%) | ||||||
| Proton pump inhibitor | 2523 (3.38) | 1976 (2.65) | <0.001 | NA | ||
| NSAIDs | 54 801 (73.50) | 42 524 (57.03) | <0.001 | 26 055 (75.5) | 8498 (24.6) | <0.001 |
| Vitamin D | 63 (0.08) | 50 (0.07) | 0.221 | 709 (2.1) | 587 (1.7) | <0.001 |
| Bisphosphonate | 155 (0.21) | 187 (0.25) | 0.083 | 720 (2.1) | 713 (2.1) | 0.852 |
| Glucocorticoids | 15 257 (20.46) | 10 592 (14.21) | <0.001 | NA | ||
| Insulin | 1097 (1.47) | 847 (1.14) | <0.001 | 429 (1.2) | 427 (1.2) | 0.945 |
| Other hypoglycaemic agents | 5299 (7.11) | 4243 (5.69) | <0.001 | 1596 (4.6) | 1350 (3.9) | <0.001 |
| Anti-hypertensives | 25 401 (34.07) | 15 383 (20.63) | <0.001 | 14 963 (43.4) | 7674 (22.2) | <0.001 |
| Nitrates | 3371 (4.52) | 2159 (2.90) | <0.001 | 4196 (12.2) | 2266 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| Lipid-lowering agents | 5222 (7.00) | 3178 (4.26) | <0.001 | 670 (1.9) | 272 (0.8) | <0.001 |
| Anticonvulsants | 2845 (3.82) | 2218 (2.97) | <0.001 | 691 (2.0) | 706 (2.0) | 0.685 |
| Place of residence, n (%) | ||||||
| Urban | 40 328 (54.09) | 43 004 (57.68) | <0.001 | NA | ||
| Suburban | 23 858 (32.00) | 23 600 (31.65) | ||||
| Rural | 8194 (10.99) | 6338 (8.50) | ||||
| Unknown | 2180 (2.92) | 1618 (2.17) | ||||
| Income level, n (%) | ||||||
| Quintile 1 | 15 499 (20.79) | 15 627 (20.96) | <0.001 | NA | ||
| Quintile 2 | 5698 (7.64) | 5599 (7.51) | ||||
| Quintile 3 | 24 768 (33.22) | 22 386 (30.02) | ||||
| Quintile 4 | 14 783 (19.83) | 15 086 (20.23) | ||||
| Quintile 5 | 13 812 (18.52) | 15 862 (21.27) | ||||
| Occupationb, n (%) | ||||||
| 1 | 13 746 (18.44) | 14 094 (18.90) | <0.001 | NA | ||
| 2 | 2625 (3.52) | 3116 (4.18) | ||||
| 3 | 22 401 (30.04) | 24 029 (32.23) | ||||
| 4 | 25 176 (33.77) | 22 504 (30.18) | ||||
| 5 | 10 612 (14.23) | 10 817 (14.51) | ||||
| BMI, n (%), kg/m2 | ||||||
| 18.5–24.9 | NA | 6856 (19.9) | 10 224 (29.6) | <0.001 | ||
| <18.5 | 223 (0.6) | 512 (1.5) | ||||
| 25.0–29.9 | 13 739 (39.8) | 11 126 (32.2) | ||||
| ≥30 | 11 094 (32.2) | 5278 (15.3) | ||||
| Unknown | 2593 (7.5) | 7365 (21.3) | ||||
| Smoking, n (%) | ||||||
| Non-smoker | NA | 11 088 (32.1) | 9064 (26.3) | <0.001 | ||
| Current smoker | 9172 (26.6) | 6514 (18.9) | ||||
| Ex-smoker | 10 869 (31.5) | 11 117 (32.2) | ||||
| Unknown | 3376 (9.8) | 7810 (22.6) | ||||
| Alcohol consumption, n (%), U/week | ||||||
| Never/ex-drinker | NA | 3368 (9.8) | 3616 (10.5) | <0.001 | ||
| Current 1–9 | 13 963 (40.5) | 13 750 (39.8) | ||||
| Current ≥10 | 11 553 (33.5) | 6931 (20.1) | ||||
| Unknown | 5621 (16.3) | 10 208 (29.6) | ||||
CCI: Charlson co-morbidity index; NA: not available.