Takeaway
- The risk of gout was almost double in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA); however, this association disappeared after adjustment for body mass index (BMI), renal function, heart failure, and recent use of diuretics.
Why this matters
- Elevated uric acid has been observed not only in gout but also in patients with OSA.
- Physicians should be more aware that gout occurs more frequently in the presence of various comorbidities, including OSA.
Study design
- This case-control study included 111,509 participants with gout (cases) and 210,241 matched participants without gout (controls) using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD.
- Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the risk of gout related to a diagnosis of OSA.
- Funding: None.
Key results
- Patients with OSA were at an increased risk of gout (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.71-2.02).
- However, the effect disappeared after adjustment for smoking status, BMI, alcohol use, a history of heart failure, diabetes mellitus, renal function, recent use of diuretics, and other medications (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.96-1.16).
- Patients with OSA and a high BMI remained at an increased risk of gout vs those without OSA (BMI: 30-34 kg/m2, adjusted OR [aOR], 1.34; 95% CI, 1.13-1.59; BMI: ≥35 kg/m2, aOR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.33-1.83)
- Compared to patients without OSA, those with OSA and a history of heart failure had an increased risk of gout (aOR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.21-2.73).
- Women vs men with OSA were at a higher risk of gout (aOR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.19-2.27).
Limitations
- Possibility of underreporting of OSA and gout, particularly in the less severe cases.
- Risk of residual confounding.
This clinical summary first appeared on Univadis from Medscape.