Hospitalization Increases the Risk of Acute Arthritic Flares in Gout: A Population-based Study over 2 Decades

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess in-hospital gout flares in patients with gout. METHODS: Hospitalizations were evaluated for gout flares in a cohort of Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with incident gout in 1989-1992 or 2009-2010. RESULTS: There were 429 patients followed up to 5 years. Of these, 169 patients experienced 454 hospitalizations. Hospitalization rates increased without reaching statistical significance from 1989-1992 to 2009-2010 [rate ratio (RR) 1.19, 95% CI 0.98-1.45]. The gout flare rate increased significantly during hospitalization (RR 10.2, 95% CI 6.8-14.5). In-hospital gout flare increased the average hospital stay by 1.8 days (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Hospitalization increased the risk of gout flares 10-fold. In-hospital gout flares were associated with longer hospitalization.