TY - JOUR T1 - A Delphi Exercise to Identify Characteristic Features of Gout — Opinions from Patients and Physicians, the First Stage in Developing New Classification Criteria JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 498 LP - 505 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.121037 VL - 40 IS - 4 AU - Rebecca L. Prowse AU - Nicola Dalbeth AU - Arthur Kavanaugh AU - Adewale O. Adebajo AU - Angelo L. Gaffo AU - Robert Terkeltaub AU - Brian F. Mandell AU - Bagus P.P. Suryana AU - Claudia Goldenstein-Schainberg AU - Cèsar Diaz-Torne AU - Dinesh Khanna AU - Frederic Lioté AU - Geraldine Mccarthy AU - Gail S. Kerr AU - Hisashi Yamanaka AU - Hein Janssens AU - Herbert F. Baraf AU - Jiunn-Horng Chen AU - Janitzia Vazquez-Mellado AU - Leslie R. Harrold AU - Lisa K. Stamp AU - Mart A. Van De Laar AU - Matthijs Janssen AU - Michael Doherty AU - Maarten Boers AU - N. Lawrence Edwards AU - Peter Gow AU - Peter Chapman AU - Puja Khanna AU - Philip S. Helliwell AU - Rebecca Grainger AU - H. Ralph Schumacher AU - Tuhina Neogi AU - Tim L. Jansen AU - Worawit Louthrenoo AU - Francisca Sivera AU - William J. Taylor Y1 - 2013/04/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/40/4/498.abstract N2 - Objective. To identify a comprehensive list of features that might discriminate between gout and other rheumatic musculoskeletal conditions, to be used subsequently for a case-control study to develop and test new classification criteria for gout. Methods. Two Delphi exercises were conducted using Web-based questionnaires: one with physicians from several countries who had an interest in gout and one with patients from New Zealand who had gout. Physicians rated a list of potentially discriminating features that were identified by literature review and expert opinion, and patients rated a list of features that they generated themselves. Agreement was defined by the RAND/UCLA disagreement index. Results. Forty-four experienced physicians and 9 patients responded to all iterations. For physicians, 71 items were identified by literature review and 15 more were suggested by physicians. The physician survey showed agreement for 26 discriminatory features and 15 as not discriminatory. The patients identified 46 features of gout, for which there was agreement on 25 items as being discriminatory and 7 items as not discriminatory. Conclusion. Patients and physicians agreed upon several key features of gout. Physicians emphasized objective findings, imaging, and patterns of symptoms, whereas patients emphasized severity, functional results, and idiographic perception of symptoms. ER -