Understanding the patient voice in gout: a quantitative study conducted in Europe

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough commonly diagnosed, gout often remains a poorly managed disease. This is partially due to a lack of awareness of the long-term effect of gout among patients and healthcare professionals.AimTo understand unmet needs for patients and provide insight into achieving better treatment.Design & settingA quantitative online questionnaire collected from 1100 people with gout from 14 countries within Europe.MethodPatients were recruited to complete an online survey via healthcare professional (HCP) referral, patient associations, or market research panels. Patients were included if they had been diagnosed with gout by a physician. Prior to commencement, patients were made aware that this study was sponsored by Grünenthal. The responses collected were collated and analyses were performed.ResultsPatients had an average of 2.9 gout flares within a 12-month period. Although 79% of patients were satisfied with treatment, inadequate gout control was also reported by 71% of patients. Furthermore, 84% experienced moderate-to-severe pain with their most recent flare. Of those who acknowledged treatment dissatisfaction, only 24% discussed other options with their GP. Most patients reported irregular follow-up and serum uric acid (sUA) monitoring. In addition, loss of belief that more can be done was a key barrier for patients.ConclusionPatients reported severe pain and social burden, coupled with low treatment expectation and lack of awareness of target sUA. Education around knowing and reaching sUA target is needed so that patients can receive and GPs can deliver higher quality management.

What Represents Treatment Efficacy in Long-term Studies of Gout Flare Prevention? An Interview Study of People With Gout

“…3 A quantitative survey of 1100 people with gout also reported a reduction in perceived treatment satisfaction as the number of flares increased. 12 However, two-thirds of patients who experienced 5 or more flares in the previous year also reported satisfaction with treatment, 12 highlighting the importance of factors other than flare frequency that may be driving patient-perceived treatment efficacy. Pain severity appeared to be the least influential of the 3 factors perceived as indicative of treatment efficacy.…”

Medical Students’ Perspective and Knowledge of Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia and Gout Management: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Moreover, there are studies reporting discordance between patients and physicians on a presence of a gout flare, with a rate as high as 30% [ 48 ]. Furthermore, patients report poor follow-up and disease monitoring from their physicians, as well as a lack of discussion about treatment options [ 38 ]. Patients tend to take prescribed treatments transiently [ 12 ].…”

“…Furthermore, younger patients have a greater time to diagnosis, and this may negatively affect their future health. Moreover, 25% reported that a family member has retired or got fired due to gout [ 38 ]. Illness should be observed not only by its seriousness and mortality risk, but also as its effect on quality of life, cost for health care systems and individuals, and associated comorbidities and their effects.…”

“…Poor ability to recognise gout in primary care may additionally prolong time to diagnosis [ 43 ]. Preparing future generations may condense time to diagnosis, especially for “unexpected” young patients [ 38 ].…”

“…We can expect that a number of doctors, regardless of their specialty, have come across a patient with gout in their daily practice. Moreover, studies show that 40% of patients consider that there is a need for greater awareness about the impact and severity of gout [ 38 ]. Hence, we wanted to investigate how familiar our medical students, as future medical professionals, are with gout.…”