Gout prevalence among Asian Americans doubled between 2011 and 2018
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Key takeaways:
- The adjusted prevalence of gout in Asian Americans increased from 3.3% in 2011-2012 to 6.6% in 2017-2018.
- The disparity in gout prevalence among Asian vs. white populations does not appear to be associated with socioclinical factors.
The adjusted prevalence of gout in Asian Americans doubled from 3.3% in 2011-2012 to 6.6% in 2017-2018, numerically exceeding the prevalence in all other racial and ethnic groups, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.
The researchers additionally concluded that the disparity in prevalence between Asian American and white patients was not associated with socioclinical factors.
“A recent U.S. nationwide study found that gout was more prevalent among Black individuals than white individuals, and this difference was entirely explained by social determinants of health and clinical factors,” Chio Yokose, MD, MSc, of Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, and colleagues wrote. “However, no information is available among U.S. Asian individuals, the fastest-growing racial and ethnic group in the U.S., but also one substantially underrepresented in U.S. health research, or among their counterparts in other Western countries.”
To investigate the prevalence of gout and serum urate concentrations in different racial and ethnic groups in the United States, Yokose and colleagues conducted a population-based, cross-sectional analysis. The analysis used the four most recent cycles of data collection from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that included Asian participants in a separate category. The collection dates used were 2011 to 2012, 2013 to 2014, 2015 to 2016 and 2017 to 2018.
The race and ethnicity of the participants in the analysis were self-reported via participant questionnaires. Categories included non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, non-Hispanic Asian and “other.” For the purposes of the data registry, “other” included American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, more than one race, or any other race, according to the researchers. Participants were asked whether a health care provider had ever indicated they had gout.
The analysis included a total of 22,261 participants. According to the researchers, the crude prevalence of gout in the U.S. increased from 3.6% (95% CI, 2.8-4.5) in the 2011 to 2012 collection period to 5.1% (95% CI, 4.2-5.9) in the 2017 to 2018 collection period. In all, the disease was estimated to impact 12.1 million adults in the United States in 2017 to 2018.
Meanwhile, the age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of gout among Asian individuals doubled, from 3.3% (95% CI, 2.1-4.5) in 2011-2012 to 6.6% (95% CI, 4.4-8.8) in 2017-2018. This change resulted in a higher number, numerically, of Asian Americans being impacted by gout than all other racial and ethnic groups, with age- and sex-adjusted ORs of 1.61 (95% CI, 1.03-2.51) and a socioclinical factor-adjusted multivariable OR of 2.62 (95% CI, 1.59-4.33) for Asian American vs. white populations.
Additionally, in the latest time period, age- and sex-adjusted gout prevalence for adults aged 65 years and older in the United States was 10% among white individuals and 14.8% among Asian American individuals — and 23.6% for Asian American men. Serum urate concentrations also increased among the Asian American population between 2011 and 2018 (P = .009).
“Gout now affects more than 12 million U.S. adults because of an aging population and increasing prevalence among Asian individuals, which numerically surpassed all other racial and ethnic groups in 2017 to 2018,” Yokose and colleagues wrote. “This Asian vs. white disparity does not appear to be associated with socioclinical factors.”
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