Prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia in the US general population: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2008

• Published in: Arthritis and rheumatism 2011-10, Vol.63 (10), p.3136-3141
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yanyan, Pandya, Bhavik J., Choi, Hyon K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Female; Gout - epidemiology; Humans; Hyperuricemia - epidemiology; Inflammatory joint diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous. Osteoarticular involvement in other diseases; Nutrition Surveys; Other metabolic disorders; Prevalence; Purines and pyrimidines (gout, hyperuricemia...); Sex Factors; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0004-3591; 1529-0131
• DOI: 10.1002/art.30520

Objective To estimate the prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia based on the latest nationally representative sample of US men and women (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES] 2007–2008). Methods Using data from 5,707 participants in NHANES 2007–2008, we estimated the prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia. During home interviews for NHANES 2007–2008, all participants were asked about a history of health professional– or physician‐diagnosed gout. Our primary definition of hyperuricemia was a serum urate level of >7.0 mg/dl for men and >5.7 mg/dl for women. We explored potential secular trends in these estimates and their possible explanations by comparing them with estimates based on 18,825 participants in NHANES‐III (1988–1994). Results The prevalence of gout among US adults in 2007–2008 was 3.9% (8.3 million individuals). The prevalence among men was 5.9% (6.1 million), and the prevalence among women was 2.0% (2.2 million). The mean serum urate levels were 6.14 mg/dl among men and 4.87 mg/dl among women, corresponding to hyperuricemia prevalences of 21.2% and 21.6%, respectively. These estimates were higher than those in NHANES‐III, with differences of 1.2% in the prevalence of gout (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.6, 1.9), 0.15 mg/dl in the serum urate level (95% CI 0.07, 0.24), and 3.2% in the prevalence of hyperuricemia (95% CI 1.2, 5.2). These differences were substantially attenuated after adjusting for body mass index and/or hypertension. Conclusion These findings from nationally representative samples of US adults suggest that the prevalence of both gout and hyperuricemia remains substantial and may have increased over the past 2 decades, which is likely related to increasing frequencies of adiposity and hypertension.