Gout and Hyperuricemia in a Finnish Rural Population

Abstract

SummaryIn a Finnish rural community, the serum uric acid content and the incidence of gout among the population aged 16 years or more was studied. A total of 2,555 subjects were invited, and 1,785 (69.9 per cent) attended the examination, 1,048 women and 737 men.Definite clinical gout was found in one of the 51 hyperuricemic patients. From the medical histories, no gout patients could be elicited from the total series.The prevalence of hyperuricemia of the present study is slightly, and the gout prevalence markedly, lower than the prevalence figures reported in the literature.