Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK.
BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012 Nov 13;13:219. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-13-219.
Gout is the commonest inflammatory arthritis affecting around 1.4% of adults in Europe. It is predominantly managed in primary care and classically affects the joints of the foot, particularly the first metatarsophalangeal joint. Gout related factors (including disease characteristics and treatment) as well as comorbid chronic disease are associated with poor Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) yet to date there is limited evidence concerning gout in a community setting. Existing epidemiological studies are limited by their cross-sectional design, selection of secondary care patients with atypical disease and the use of generic tools to measure HRQOL. This 3 year primary care-based prospective observational cohort study will describe the spectrum of HRQOL in community dwelling patients with gout, associated factors, predictors of poor outcome, and prevalence and incidence of foot problems in gout patients.
Adults aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with gout or prescribed colchicine or allopurinol in the preceding 2 years will be identified through Read codes and mailed a series of self-completion postal questionnaires over a 3-year period. Consenting participants will have their general practice medical records reviewed.
This is the first prospective cohort study of HRQOL in patients with gout in primary care in the UK. The combination of survey data and medical record review will allow an in-depth understanding of factors that are associated with and lead to poor HRQOL and foot problems in gout. Identification of these factors will improve the management of this prevalent, yet under-treated, condition in primary care.
痛风是一种常见的炎症性关节炎，在欧洲约影响 1.4%的成年人。它主要在初级保健中进行管理，经典地影响足部关节，特别是第一跖趾关节。痛风相关因素（包括疾病特征和治疗）以及合并的慢性疾病与健康相关生活质量（HRQOL）差有关，但迄今为止，有关社区痛风的证据有限。现有的流行病学研究受到其横断面设计、选择非典型疾病的二级保健患者以及使用通用工具来衡量 HRQOL 的限制。这项为期 3 年的基于初级保健的前瞻性观察队列研究将描述社区痛风患者 HRQOL 的范围、相关因素、不良结局的预测因素以及痛风患者足部问题的患病率和发生率。
通过 Read 代码识别过去 2 年内诊断为痛风或开处秋水仙碱或别嘌醇的年龄在 18 岁及以上的成年人，并在 3 年内通过邮寄一系列自我完成的邮政问卷进行调查。同意参与的参与者将对其全科医生记录进行审查。
这是英国初级保健中痛风患者 HRQOL 的第一项前瞻性队列研究。调查数据和病历回顾的结合将深入了解与痛风患者 HRQOL 和足部问题相关并导致其不佳的因素。确定这些因素将改善初级保健中这种普遍但治疗不足的疾病的管理。
