1. Treatment approaches and adherence to urate-lowering therapy for patients with gout
- Author
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Thanda Aung, Gihyun Myung, and John FitzGerald
- Subjects
musculoskeletal diseases ,congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Inflammatory arthritis ,Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities ,Clinical Sciences ,Pharmacist ,Psychological intervention ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Review ,7.3 Management and decision making ,03 medical and health sciences ,gout ,0302 clinical medicine ,7.1 Individual care needs ,Clinical Research ,medicine ,adherence ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Hyperuricemia ,Intensive care medicine ,Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous) ,030203 arthritis & rheumatology ,business.industry ,Arthritis ,Inflammatory and immune system ,urate-lowering therapy ,Health Policy ,nutritional and metabolic diseases ,medicine.disease ,Gout ,Serum urate ,Etiology ,Management of diseases and conditions ,business ,Social Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Patient education - Abstract
Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis characterized by painful disabling acute attacks. It is caused by hyperuricemia and deposition of urate crystals in and around the joints. Long-standing untreated hyperuricemia can lead to chronic arthritis with joint damage, tophi formation and urate nephropathy. Gout is associated with significant morbidity and health care associated cost. The goal of long-term therapy is to lower the serum urate level to promote dissolution of urate crystals, reduce recurrent acute gout flares, resolve tophi and prevent joint damage. Despite the presence of established gout treatment guidelines and effective medications to manage gout, patient outcomes are often poor. Etiology for these shortcomings is multifactorial including both physician and patient characteristics. Poor adherence to urate-lowering therapy (ULT) is prevalent and is a significant contributor to poor patient outcomes. This article reviews the treatment strategies for the management of hyperuricemia in chronic gout, gaps in quality of care in gout management, factors contributing to poor adherence to ULT and discusses potential interventions to achieve improved gout-related outcomes. These interventions include initiation of prophylactic anti-inflammatory medication when starting ULT, frequent follow-ups, regular serum urate monitoring and improved patient education, which can be achieved through pharmacist- or nurse-assisted programs. Interventions such as these could improve adherence to ULT and, ultimately, result in optimal gout-related outcomes.
- Published
- 2017
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