Incident gout and chronic Kidney Disease: healthcare utilization and survival

Background Uncontrolled gout can cause significant joint and organ damage and has been associated with impairments in quality of life and high economic cost. Gout has also been associated with other comorbid diseases, such as chronic kidney disease. The current study explored if healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and survival differs between patients with incident gout in the presence or absence of chronic kidney disease (CKD).Methods Clalit Health Services (CHS) data were used to conduct a retrospective population-based cohort study of incident gout between 1/1/2006-31/12/2009. Incident cases of gout were identified and stratified by CKD status and by age group (Results A total of 12,940 incident adult gout patients, with (n = 8286) and without (n = 4654) CKD, were followed for 55,206 person-years. Higher rates of HRU were observed for gout patients with CKD than without. Total annual hospital admissions for patients with gout and CKD were at least 3 times higher for adults  = 1.65; 95% CI 1.01-2.71; HR55+ years = 1.50; 95% CI 1.37-1.65).Conclusions The current study suggests important differences exist in patient characteristics and outcomes among patients with gout and CKD. Healthcare utilization differed between sub-populations, age and comorbidities, over the study period and the 5-year mortality risk was higher for gout patients with CKD, regardless of age. Future work should explore factors associated with these outcomes and barriers to gout control in order to enhance patient management among this high-risk subgroup.