Short-term risk of cardiovascular events in people newly diagnosed with gout

Cipolletta, Edoardo; Nakafero, Georgina; Richette, Pascal; Avery, Anthony J.; Mamas, Mamas A.; Tata, Laila J.; Abhishek, Abhishek

Abstract

Objectives
To investigate the temporal association between first diagnosis of gout and cardiovascular events in the short-term.

Methods
We performed a self-controlled case series analysis and a cohort study using data from linked primary care, hospitalisation, and mortality records from the UK's Clinical Practice Research Database (GOLD). We included individuals with a new diagnosis of gout either in the primary care or secondary care between 01/01/1997 and 31/12/2020.

The first consultation at which gout was diagnosed was the exposure of interest. The main outcome consisted of cardiovascular events (i.e., a composite of fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction, ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and transient ischaemic attack).

Results
4,398 patients (66.9% male, mean age 74.6 years) had a cardiovascular event within ±2 years of their first recorded diagnosis of gout. The incidence of cardiovascular events was significantly higher in the 30 days after the first diagnosis of gout compared to baseline (adjusted incidence rate ratio: 1.55 ((95% confidence interval) 95%CI: 1.33-1.83)).

Among 76,440 patients (72.9% male, mean age 63.2 years) included in the cohort study, the incidence of cardiovascular events in the 30 days after the first gout diagnosis (31.2 events/1,000 person-years, 95%CI: 27.1-35.9) was significantly higher than in days 31-730 after gout diagnosis (21.6 events/1,000 person-years, 95%CI:20.8-22.4) with a rate difference of -9.6 events/1,000 person-years, 95%CI: -14.0 to -5.1).

Conclusion
Individuals had a short-term increased risk of cardiovascular events in the 30 days following the first consultation at which gout was diagnosed.

Citation

Cipolletta, E., Nakafero, G., Richette, P., Avery, A. J., Mamas, M. A., Tata, L. J., & Abhishek, A. (2024). Short-term risk of cardiovascular events in people newly diagnosed with gout. Arthritis and Rheumatology, https://doi.org/10.1002/art.42986

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 10, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 15, 2024
• Publication Date: Sep 15, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 11, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 16, 2025
• Journal: Arthritis and Rheumatology
• Print ISSN: 2326-5191
• Electronic ISSN: 2326-5205
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/art.42986
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/39457894
• Publisher URL: https://acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/art.42986