Physical Impairments in People With Gout: A Scoping Review

Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. It is predominantly managed with pharmacological interventions, and physical impairments in people with gout have seldom been studied. We aimed to identify gout-related physical impairments that may be targeted by physical interventions.

Five electronic databases (Medline, AMED, EMBASE, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL) were searched from inception to April 2024, together with reference lists of all included articles. We included all study designs, except for singular case reports, conducted in people with gout, where at least one objective physical impairment outcome was reported. All title, abstract and full-text article eligibility screening was performed independently by two reviewers. Independent data extraction included design and setting, participant demographics, baseline characteristics, disease duration, physical impairment investigated, and method of assessment. Data synthesis was summarised descriptively.

Twenty-four articles were included. Most studies were cross-sectional designs in secondary care settings, 11 were performed in New Zealand. Participants' mean ages ranged from 41.3 (standard deviation (SD) not calculated) to 75.8 (SD 5.2) years. Participants were predominantly male. Gout duration ranged from 24 h to a mean of 28 years. Five broad categories of physical impairment were identified: lower extremity function, joint range of motion, strength, deformity, and Achilles tendon stiffness.

Based on limited evidence, the most commonly observed physical impairments are related to lower extremity function and joint range of motion. Our review identifies the need to better understand and quantify gout-related physical impairments before developing targeted physical interventions.