Impact of Disease Activity on Life Quality of Patients with Gout

Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis in men. Due to the rising incidence and prevalence of gout, greater scrutiny has been directed towards the impact of gout on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship of disease activity with the quality of life (QOL) of patients diagnosed with gout. Material and methods. Study involved 151 patients with gout (100% men), aged (mean±SD) 52.4±9.2, with a disease duration 8.9±6.6 years. We diagnosed tophaceous gout in 51 (33.7%). Diagnosis of gout was based on the ACR/EULAR 2015 criteria. The disease activity was determined by the Gout Activity Score (GAS), the intensity of the pain – by the visual analog scale (VAS). To evaluate quality of life, the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) and Gout Impact Scale (GIS). GIS, a disease-specific HRQOL instrument, measures the impact of gout on quality of life, both during and between acute gout attacks. The GIS includes five scales measuring the potential impact of gout on patient's lives: overall gout concern, gout medication side effects, unmet treatment needs well-being during attacks and gout concern during attacks. The total GIS score was calculated by averaging the GIS scale scores. The association between disease activity and quality of life was verified using One Way-ANOVA and Bonferroni correction post-test. Results and discussion. The number of attacks in the last year was 3.8±2.7, number of affected joints was 8.0±5,4, and uric acid in serum (sUA) was 8.1±2.0 mg/dl. Mean value of VAS in gout patients was 5.4±2.4 cm, and disease activity by GAS – 5.9±2.1. Testing patients with questionnaires showed a decrease in quality of life in gout patients. The SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) scores were 34.0±7.7 and mental component summary (MCS) score 40.0±9.2. The analysis of the SF-36 depending on the disease activity showed that categories of the SF-36 were significantly higher in patients with low activity than in patients with high activity. Mean GIS summary scores ranged from 40.2±19.6 (unmet gout treatment needs) to 60.4±28.2 (gout overall concern) with higher scores indicating worse condition/impairment or greater gout impact. Patients with high activity had significantly higher mean scores than patients with low disease activity. Conclusion. The patients with gout who participated in our research have decreased QL associated with disease activity.