@article {Wallace1582, author = {Katrine L Wallace and Aylin A Riedel and Nancy Joseph-Ridge and Robert Wortmann}, title = {Increasing prevalence of gout and hyperuricemia over 10 years among older adults in a managed care population.}, volume = {31}, number = {8}, pages = {1582--1587}, year = {2004}, publisher = {The Journal of Rheumatology}, abstract = {OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the prevalence of gout and/or clinically significant hyperuricemia increased in a managed care population over 10 years. METHODS: The study was a descriptive analysis utilizing an administrative claims database to ascertain 10-year trends in prevalence of gout and/or hyperuricemia. Prevalence rates were calculated cross-sectionally for each year (1990-99) and expressed/compared as rates per 1000 enrollees. RESULTS: The prevalence of gout and/or hyperuricemia in the overall population increased by about 2 cases per 1000 enrollees over 10 years. In the \> 75 year age group, rates increased from 21 per 1000 persons in 1990 to 41 per 1000 in 1999. In the 65-74 year age group, prevalence increased from between 21 and 24 per 1000 persons in the years 1990-92 to over 31 per 1000 during the years 1997-99. Prevalence rates in younger age groups (\< 65 years) stayed consistently low during the years under study. There were sex differences in most age groups, with men having the greater burden of disease at every time point. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of gout and/or hyperuricemia in the overall study population increased during the 10-year period. When stratified by age, there were increases in prevalence among groups over age 65 in both sexes. Although gout prevalence increased in both sexes over the 10-year period, men still had most of the burden of disease. In ages younger than 65, men had 4 times higher prevalence than women (4:1 ratio), but in the older age groups (\> 65), the gender gap narrowed to 1 woman to every 3 men with gout and/or hyperuricemia (3:1 ratio).}, issn = {0315-162X}, URL = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/31/8/1582}, eprint = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/31/8/1582.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Rheumatology} }