Keele Research Repository

Objective. To describe factors associated with change in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people living with gout in primary care.

Methods. In a UK prospective cohort study, adults with a diagnosis of gout registered with 20 general practices completed the Gout Impact Scale (GIS) (scale 0-100), Short-Form-36 Physical Function subscale (PF10) (0-100) and Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) (0-3) via postal questionnaires at baseline and 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. Linear mixed modelling was used to investigate factors associated with change in HRQOL over three years.

Results. 1184 participants responded at baseline (adjusted response 65.6%); 990 (83.6%) were male, mean (SD) age 65.6 (12.5) years. 818, 721, 696, and 605 responded at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. Factors associated with worse disease-specific and generic HRQOL over three years were flare frequency (≥5 flares GIS subscales, PF10), oligo/polyarticular flares (GIS subscales, PF10, HAQ-DI), worse pain (GIS subscales, PF10, HAQ-DI), body pain (GIS subscales, PF10, HAQ-DI), and more severe depression (GIS subscales, PF10, HAQ-DI) (p-value ≤ 0.05). More severe anxiety was associated with worse disease-specific HRQOL only (GIS subscales). Older age (PF10), being female (PF10, HAQ-DI) and BMI (HAQ-DI) were associated with worse generic HRQOL (p-value ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion. Gout-specific, comorbid and socio-demographic factors were associated with change in HRQOL over a three-year period highlighting people at risk of worse outcomes who could be targeted for interventions.