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Title: Gout Rate Increasing in the United States

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Journal of Rheumatology, 2002; 29: 2403-2406.
11/11/2002 09:25:19 AM
By Elda Hauschildt

The rate of primary gout cases has increased significantly over the past 20 years in the United States. Researchers from the division of rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, say that there was more than a two-fold increase in the rate of primary gout in the two-year interval 1995/1996 compared with that of 1977/1978. "While this increase might be a result of improved ascertainment of atypical gout, it may also be related to other, yet unidentified risk factors," they state. The investigators used computerised medical records to ascertain all cases of acute gout in the city of Rochester during the two time intervals studied. They screened data of all potential cases. Those meeting the 1977 American College of Rheumatology proposed criteria were included. Information on demographics, body mass index, clinical presentation and associated comorbid conditions was abstracted. Overall and age/gender adjusted rates of the two study cohorts were calculated and compared. Thirty nine new cases were identified in the 1977/1978 interval, compared with 81 new cases in 1995/1996. The age and sex-adjusted annual incidence rate was 45.0 per 100,000 in the 1977/1978 time interval. By 1996/1996, it had climbed to 62.3 per 100,000. The researchers note that the rate of secondary, diuretic-related gout did not increase over time.

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