title: High prevalence of gouty arthritis among the Hmong population in Minnesota.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prevalence of gout is on the rise worldwide, especially among newly industrialized populations. We evaluated the prevalence of gout in the recently established Hmong of Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) compared with that in non-Hmong populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The prevalence of self-reported gout in the Hmong population was estimated from 2 cross-sectional community surveys and compared with national data extrapolated from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The prevalence of physician-diagnosed gout in Hmong and non-Hmong MSP residents was separately estimated from the diagnosis codes of 11 MSP primary care clinics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of self-reported gout among MSP Hmong was 2-fold higher than in the general US population (6.5% versus 2.9%; P < 0.001). Although women of both groups reported gout at a rate of 1.9%, Hmong men were significantly more likely than their non-Hmong counterparts to report gout (11.5% versus 4.1%; P < 0.001). Similar results were observed when investigating physician-diagnosed gout in MSP (2.8% Hmong versus 1.5% non-Hmong; P < 0.001). No difference was observed between the women of the 2 groups (0.8% versus 0.7%; P = 0.833), whereas Hmong men were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with gout compared with their non-Hmong counterparts (6.1% versus 2.5%; P < 0.001). Among Hmong men, advancing age was associated with a considerably higher likelihood of being diagnosed with gout.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A significant association is observed between Hmong ethnicity and gout, both self-reported and physician diagnosed. This unique population may provide an opportunity to further our understanding of the pathophysiology of gout.
authors.affiliation: HealthEast Kidney Stone Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota 55102, USA. aportis@healtheast.org
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Portis
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laliberte
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tatman
authors.forename: Maikia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moua
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Culhane-Pera
authors.forename: Naim M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Maalouf
authors.forename: Khashayar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakhaee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015210:Arthritis, Gouty / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence