Elevated risk of mortality among gout patients: A comparison with the National Population in Taiwan

Objectives: Accumulating evidence suggests that gout is associated with increased overall and cardiovascular mortality. Using data from a large consecutive cohort of gout sufferers who were followed for 8years, we investigated mortality among gout sufferers and compared the results with data from the general population of Taiwan. Methods: The study comprised 6631people who had gout diagnosis at outpatient department of the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in 2000. Survival status and cause of death were ascertained by examining the National Death Registry of Taiwan through 2008. Results: During 53,048person-years of follow-up in 6631gout patients, 1273 (male, 941; female, 332) deaths were identified, corresponding to the crude mortality rate was 21.3 (male, 20.0; female, 26.1) per 1000patient-years, which was significantly higher than that of the national population. As compared with the national population of Taiwan in 2000, the all-cause standardized mortality ratio (95% confidence interval) was 1.29 (1.21-1.37) for men and 1.70 (1.53-1.89) for women. Both men and women in this cohort had higher standardized mortality ratios for death due to kidney diseases (men, 3.10; women, 3.54), endocrine and metabolic diseases (men, 2.24; women, 2.71), and cardiovascular diseases (men, 1.58; women, 1.81). Multivariate Cox regression showed no difference in mortality between genders. Discussion/Conclusions: Individuals with gout have increased mortality risk in both sexes; however, the extent of risk increment is higher in women. Kidney diseases, endocrine and metabolic diseases, and cardiovascular diseases are primary causes of death.