Perspective of Dutch Patients with Gout on Continuation or Discontinuation of Urate‐Lowering Therapy During Remission: A Mixed‐Methods Study

Abstract

BackgroundLong‐term gout management is based on reducing serum urate by using urate‐lowering therapy (ULT) 1, 2. A lifelong treat‐to‐target approach is advocated, though a ULT (taper to) stop attempt can be considered (treat‐to‐avoid symptoms approach) during remission. Exploring gout patients’ beliefs on long‐term ULT strategies during remission is important for optimising gout management.ObjectiveTo identify factors that influence the decision for continuation or discontinuation of ULT and to determine their relative importance according to gout patients in remission.MethodsA mixed methods design was used. First, semi‐structured interviews (substudy 1) were conducted to identify barriers and facilitators for (dis)continuation of ULT using inductive thematic analysis. Afterwards these barriers/facilitators were summarized into neutrally phrased items and used in a Maximum Difference Scaling study (MaxDiff, substudy 2) to determine their relative importance using the rescaled probability score (RPS).ResultsSubstudies 1 and 2 included 18 and 156 patients, respectively. Substudy 1 yielded 22 items, within 10 overarching themes. Substudy 2 revealed that the perceived risk of joint damage and gout flares and that ULT use gives some assurance of ULT use were the most important items.The costs, ease of receiving ULT and its practical use were the least important items.ConclusionThese results can aid shared decision making and provide input for what's important to discuss with gout patients in remission, when they consider ULT discontinuation. Emphasis should be on the risk of having gout flares and joint damage, not so much on facilitating how easily medication is received.