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Healthcare burden of in-hospital gout
1Department of Rheumatology, The Townsville Hospital, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Insights
Inpatient gout significantly increases hospital stays by 6 days. Early diagnosis and treatment of acute gout attacks can reduce healthcare costs for this often overlooked condition.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- The disease burden of inpatient gout, particularly its impact on hospital length of stay, remains largely unquantified.
- Gout is a common condition, but its complications during hospital admissions for other reasons have not been systematically studied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the disease burden of acute gout complicating hospital admissions.
- To assess the impact of inpatient gout on hospital length of stay and patient demographics.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of a hospital discharge diagnosis database.
- Identification of 77 patients with acute gout complicating admission between 2001-2010.
- Comparison with a control group (n=28,301) matched for principal diagnosis and a subgroup (n=231) matched for age, gender, and ethnicity.
Main Results:
- Patients with inpatient gout stayed 6 days longer in the hospital compared to matched controls (9 vs 3 days, P=0.0005).
- Inpatient gout attacks were more prevalent in older, male, and indigenous patient populations.
Conclusions:
- Acute gout significantly prolongs hospital stays, indicating a substantial disease burden.
- Targeted interventions for early diagnosis and treatment of gout in hospitalized patients may reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes.
Abstract:
The disease burden of inpatient gout has not been reported. Using a discharge diagnosis database and individual case record review, 77 patients who developed acute gout complicating a hospital admission for another reason were identified between January 2001 and April 2010 at The Townsville Hospital. A control group of 28 301 cases with identical principal diagnoses were similarly ascertained, along with a subgroup of 231 cases matched for age, gender and ethnicity. Patients with an admission complicated by acute gout stayed 6 days longer in hospital than matched control patients (9 days vs 3 days, P = 0.0005) with the same principal diagnoses and demographics. Patients with an attack of gout were more likely to be older, male or indigenous. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment may help to reduce the healthcare costs of this overlooked disease.
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