Suboptimal Serum Urate Monitoring Among Older Adults With Gout

Serum urate (SUA) monitoring within 6 months after starting urate-lowering therapy (ULT) among older adults with gout is suboptimal, according to the results of a Canadian study published in Arthritis Care & Research.

“Studies thus far have uniformly shown SUA monitoring to occur infrequently after starting ULT, ranging from 17% to 45% within 6 months,” the investigators explained. The new study also “analyzed patient- and physician-level factors associated with SUA testing.”

The population-based retrospective study, conducted in Ontario, Canada, included adults at least 66 years old with gout, receiving prescription medications for ULT from 2010 to 2019 from the Ontario Drug Benefit program. Primary outcome included “the presence of SUA testing within 6 and 12 months of ULT initiation.”

The researchers found that of the 44,438 participants, 64.1% received at least 1 SUA test within 6 months of initiating therapy, and 75.2% received the same within 12 months after initiating therapy.

Rheumatologists were most consistent in having SUA testing among their patients following ULT therapy. Conversely, family physicians infrequently ensured that their patients were monitored for the SUA test after receiving ULT.

Patients with chronic kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, were more likely to get the SUA monitoring done within 6 months.

Patients who were older, lived in rural areas, had lower socio-economic status, and had prior cardiovascular events were less likely to get the SUA monitoring done within 6 months after receiving therapy, the study found.

Reference:
Kwok TSH, Kuriya B, Hawker G, Li P, Choy G and Widdifield J. Serum urate monitoring among older adults with gout: Initiating urate-lowering therapy in Ontario, Canada. Arthritis Care Res. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.25167