Background Gout is often treated with life-long pharmacological therapies. Patients are interested in non-pharmacological interventions as adjunct to these therapies. To our knowledge, non-pharmacological have not been studied in detail.

Objectives To describe the baseline characteristics of patients with gout enrolled in an Internet pilot study comparing the benefits and harms of diet modification to cherry extract intake.

Methods Patients were enrolled over an 8-month period using the Internet. Diagnosis of gout was confirmed by contacting their health care provider. We describe the baseline characteristics of patients with physician-confirmed gout, who were randomized in the Internet gout study.

Results We randomized 83 participants in an Internet gout pilot study, randomized to diet modification (n=43) or cherry extract (n=40); 3 patients withdrew before receiving intervention. The mean age of study participants was 56 years, (SD, 16), mean body mass index was 33 kg/m² (SD, 10), 73% were male; 67% were white Americans, 25% were African Americans and 7% other/mixed race/ethnicity. Participants took a median of 35 minutes to complete study assessment.

Almost half of the participants were taking medications for the treatment of gout: allopurinol, 42%; febuxostat, 1%, probenecid, 0%; colchicine, 29%. Forty-five percent participant were taking none of these medications. 41% smoked ever, 27% were using a special diet and participants had alcohol use an average of 2 days in the last week. Average number of gout flares were four in the last year. Dietary assessments showed that average daily intakes were as follows: calories, 2005; carbohydrate, 221 gm; fat, 82 gm; fiber, 19 gm; caffeine, 197 ml. The HEI2010 score of 64 was comparable to what was observed with NHANES for people in the average age range of this study.

Conclusions Patients recruited in an Internet gout study, successfully responded to assessments, and had patient characteristics similar to gout populations described previously. The dietary assessments in this provide may provide a unique insight to design interventions to improve diet to improve gout outcomes.

References

1. Singh JA, Bharat A, Edwards NL. An internet survey of common treatments used by patients with gout including cherry extract and juice and other dietary supplements. J Clin Rheumatol. 2015;21(4):225–226. doi:10.1097/RHU.0000000000000246. PubMed PMID: 26010189.

References

Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant from UAB COERE nad UAB MHRC centers.

Disclosure of Interest J. Singh Grant/research support from: Savient, Takeda, Consultant for: Savient, Takeda, Regeneron, Merz, Iroko, Bioiberica, Crealta and Allergan pharmaceuticals, WebMD, UBM LLC and the American College of Rheumatology, G. MCGWIN: None declared