Clinical research studyAlcohol Quantity and Type on Risk of Recurrent Gout Attacks: An Internet-based Case-crossover Study
Section snippets
Study Design
The Boston University online gout study is an Internet-based case-crossover study conducted over the period of 2003-2012 to examine a set of putative risk factors for recurrent gout attacks. The details of the study have been described previously.10, 14, 15 In brief, we constructed a Web site (https://dcc2.bumc.bu.edu/GOUT) on an independent secure server within the Boston University Medical Center domain. Recruitment occurred primarily by means of an advertisement on Google linked to the
Results
There were 724 participants (mean age 54 years) who completed both hazard and control period questionnaires over a consecutive 12-month period between February 2003 and January 2012. As shown in Table 1, the majority of participants was male (78%), obese (mean BMI 32 kg/m2), and white (89%). Participants were recruited from 49 states and the District of Columbia. Of these participants, 614 (85%) met the ACR Preliminary Classification Criteria for Gout. Approximately 48% were on urate-lowering
Discussion
Anecdotally, while alcohol has been thought to trigger gout attacks, the results from our study confirm that alcohol intake, potentially even moderate amounts, increases the risk of recurrent gout attacks in a short time following consumption. Further, all types of alcoholic beverages, whether it was wine, beer, or liquor, were associated, to varying degrees, with an increased risk for recurrent gout attacks. These effects were stronger in the presence of high purine intake and diuretic use,
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Funding: TN's support included National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) K23 AR055127, Arthritis Foundation Arthritis Investigator Award, American College of Rheumatology Research Education Fund Junior Career Development Award in Geriatric Medicine (T. Franklin Williams Scholars Program); YZ's support included NIAMS AR47785, American College of Rheumatology Research Education Foundation Health Professional Investigator Award.
Conflict of Interest: None.
Authorship: All of the work is original, all authors meet criteria for authorship, including acceptance of responsibility for scientific content of the manuscript. All authors had access to the data and a role in writing the manuscript.
Boston University Medical Center Institutional Review Board approval protocol number: H-22804.