Hyperuricemia is associated with increased hospitalization risk and healthcare costs: Evidence from an administrative...

Chronic hyperuricemia is responsible for a relevant burden of articular diseases and cardio-nephrometabolic disorders. We evaluated the effect of high serum uric acid (SUA) levels on hospitalization risk and mortality and on healthcare costs in a real-life setting.

We conducted a retrospective analysis using a large administrative database and a clinical registry among 112,170 subjects from three Italian local health units. Individuals were divided into four groups according to their SUA levels: <6 mg/dL (66.5%), >6 mg/dL and ≤7 mg/dL (19.3%), >7 mg/dL and ≤8 mg/dL (8.7%), and >8 mg/dL (5.5%). Compared to those with SUA level of <6 mg/dL, the risk of hospitalization related to gout and/or nephrolithiasis was higher in the three groups of patients with higher SUA levels (1.51, P = 0.100; 2.21, P = 0.005; and 1.17, P = 0.703, respectively). A similar trend was also observed for hospitalization due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) (1.31, P < 0.001; 1.40, P < 0.001; and 2.18, P < 0.001, respectively) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1.08, P < 0.001; 1.23, P < 0.001; and 1.67, P < 0.001, respectively) and for all-cause mortality (0.97, P = 0.309; 1.21, P < 0.001; and 2.15, P < 0.001). The mean annual healthcare costs were higher in patients with higher SUA level (€2752, €2957, €3386, and €4607, respectively) mainly because of a progressive increase in hospitalization costs per patient (from € 1515 for SUA <6 mg/dL to € 3096 for SUA >8 mg/dL).

Increased SUA levels are associated with an increased risk of hospitalizations related to hyperuricemia, CKD, and CVDs and total mortality, and consequently with higher total healthcare costs and hospitalization costs per patient.