BackgroundGout treatment remains suboptimal. Identifying populations at risk of developing gout may provide opportunities for prevention. Our aim was to assess the risk of incident gout associated with obesity, hypertension and diuretic use.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective and retrospective cohort studies in adults (age ≥ 18 years) from primary care or the general population, exposed to obesity, hypertension or diuretic use and with incident gout as their outcome.ResultsA total of 9923 articles were identified: 14 met the inclusion criteria, 11 of which contained data suitable for pooling in the meta-analysis. Four articles were identified for obesity, 10 for hypertension and six for diuretic use, with four, nine and three articles included respectively for each meta-analysis. Gout was 2.24 times more likely to occur in individuals with body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2 (adjusted relative risk 2.24 (95% confidence interval) 1.76–2.86). Hypertensive individuals were 1.64 (1.34–2.01) and 2.11 (1.64–2.72) times more likely to develop gout as normotensive individuals (adjusted hazard ratio and relative risk respectively). Diuretic use was associated with almost 2.5 times the risk of developing gout compared to no diuretic use (adjusted relative risk 2.39 (1.57–3.65)).ConclusionsObesity, hypertension and diuretic use are risk factors for incident gout, each more than doubling the risk compared to those without these risk factors. Patients with these risk factors should be recognised by clinicians as being at greater risk of developing gout and provided with appropriate management and treatment options.

Identification of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) remains challenging, frequently resulting in a diagnostic delay for patients. Current benchmarks of delay are usually reported as mean data, which are typically skewed and therefore may be overestimating delay. Our aim was to determine the extent of median delay patients’ experience in receiving a diagnosis of axSpA and examine whether specific factors are associated with the presence of such delay. We conducted a systematic review across five literature databases (from inception to November 2021), with studies reporting the average time period of diagnostic delay in patients with axSpA being included. Any additional information examining associations between specific factors and delay were also extracted. A narrative synthesis was used to report the median range of diagnostic delay experienced by patients with axSpA and summarise which factors have a role in the delay. From an initial 11,995 articles, 69 reported an average time period of diagnostic delay, with 25 of these providing a median delay from symptom onset to diagnosis. Across these studies, delay ranged from 0.67 to 8 years, with over three-quarters reporting a median of between 2 years and 6 years. A third of all studies reported median delay data ranging from just 2 to 2.3 years. Of seven variables reported with sufficient frequency to evaluate, only ‘gender’ and ‘family history of axSpA’ had sufficient concordant data to draw any conclusion on their role, neither influenced the extent of the delay. Despite improvements in recent decades, patients with axSpA frequently experience years of diagnostic delay and this remains an extensive worldwide problem. This is further compounded by a mixed picture of the disease, patient and healthcare-related factors influencing delay. Key points• Despite improvements in recent decades, patients with axSpA frequently experience years of diagnostic delay.• Median diagnostic delay typically ranges from 2 to 6 years globally.• Neither ‘gender’ nor ‘family history of axSpA’ influenced the extent of diagnostic delay experienced.• Diagnostic delay based on mean, rather than median, data influences the interpretation of the delay time period and consistently reports a longer delay period.

Background: Though gout is more prevalent in men than women, it remains unclear whether gender influences risk factors for incident gout. We aimed to systematically review all cohort studies examining risk factors for the development of gout by gender. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to March 2019. Risk factors for gout examined were: age, ethnicity, consumption of alcohol, meat, seafood, dairy products, purine-rich vegetables, coffee and fructose, vitamin C intake, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, metabolic syndrome, BMI, waist and chest circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, weight change, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemias, renal disease, psoriasis, hypertension, diuretic use and anti-diabetic medication. Cohort studies were included if examining (at least) one of these risk factors for gout in either gender in the general population or primary care. Sample characteristics from included articles and their reported risk estimates were described using narrative synthesis. Results: Thirty-three articles were included, 20 (60.6%)directly compared risk factors by gender, 10 (30.3%) used men-only samples, 3 (9.1%) used women-only samples. Articles comparing risk across genders found similar increases in most risk factors. However, in men, metabolic syndrome (Hazard Ratio (95% CI) 1.37(1.20-1.58)) presented a risk of incident gout compared to none in women (> 50 years 1.15(0.85-1.54); ≤50 years 1.29(0.76-2.17)). Compared to men, women showed greater associated risk with higher consumption of fish and shellfish (HR (95% CI) Men: 1.02 (0.86-1.22); Women 1.36 (1.12-1.65)). Conclusions: Risk factors for developing gout did not typically differ between genders and therefore similar preventative advice can be provided. Exceptions were metabolic syndrome in men and excessive seafood consumption in women, but these singular articles need further examination and in general more research into the risk factors for gout which includes women is required.

Objective Urate‐lowering therapy (predominantly allopurinol) is highly effective as a treatment for gout, but its wider long‐term effects remain unclear. This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to ascertain the association between mortality and the use of allopurinol in patients with gout. Method Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to August 2018. Articles eligible for inclusion used a cohort design and examined cardiovascular or all‐cause mortality in patients diagnosed with gout and prescribed allopurinol. Information on study characteristics, design, sample size, and mortality risk estimates were extracted. Article quality was assessed using the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale. Included articles were described in a narrative synthesis and, where possible, risk estimate data were pooled. Results Four articles reported a hazard ratio (HR) risk estimate for all‐cause mortality in patients with gout using allopurinol, and 2 of these also reported cardiovascular mortality. Two articles found allopurinol to be protective in patients with gout, 1 found no statistically significant association, and 1 found no statistically significant effect of escalation of allopurinol dosage on all‐cause or cardiovascular‐related mortality. Data pooling was possible for all‐cause mortality and found no association between allopurinol use in patients with gout and all‐cause mortality compared to patients with gout not using allopurinol (adjusted HR 0.80 [95% confidence interval 0.60–1.05]). Conclusion There was no significant association between all‐cause mortality and allopurinol use in people with gout. However, the number of included studies was small, suggesting that further studies are needed.

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