The Health Quality & Safety Commission has updated the gout Atlas which presents information on gout in New Zealand’s district health boards. It hopes clinicians can use the information to improve outcomes for patients living with gout.
Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis affecting about 4.7 per cent of our adult population. It can cause severe joint pain, disrupt work and home life and cause difficulty playing sports and other normal activities. If left untreated, gout can damage bones and joints.
The data shows Māori and Pacific peoples are more affected by gout, with at least twice the rates of other non-Māori, non-Pacific groups. However, they are less likely than these other groups to receive effective therapies.
Professor Nicola Dalbeth, chair of the Commission’s expert advisory group on gout, says that while the most common and well-tolerated medicine for gout prevention is allopurinol, Māori and Pacific peoples receive it less frequently.
“Patients who take allopurinol regularly don’t need as many other medicines to treat gout and have lower rates of hospital admission. We don’t know how many people should be taking allopurinol but data suggests there are people for whom taking it would improve their health.
“On average, 41 per cent of people with gout received allopurinol regularly. However, among those populations with the highest rates of gout that number is lower – 39 per cent for Maori and 33 per cent of Pacific peoples.
“The data shows there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to the management of gout – but we hope clinicians can use the information to improve outcomes for patients living with this condition.”
It is recommended that a person who is having more than one acute gout attack per year take regular medication to reduce the amount of uric acid in the blood to prevent further acute gout attacks.
The current gout Atlas is available to view on the HQSC website here
