title: The global burden of gout: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gout is the most common cause of inflammatory arthritis in men, but has not previously been included in Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies. As part of the GBD 2010 Study, the Musculoskeletal Disorders and Risk Factors Expert Group estimated the global burden of gout.
  
  
  METHODS
  The American Rheumatism Association 1977 case definition of primary gout was used in the study. A series of systematic reviews were conducted to gather the age-specific and sex-specific epidemiological data for gout prevalence, incidence, mortality risk and duration. Two main disabling sequelae of gout were identified; acute episode gout and chronic polyarticular gout, and used in the surveys to collect data to derive disability weights. The epidemiological data together with disability weights were then used to calculate years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for gout, for 1990 and 2010. No evidence of cause-specific mortality associated with gout was found. Gout disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), therefore, have the same value as YLDs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Global prevalence of gout was 0.08% (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 0.07 to 0.08). DALYs increased from 76 000 (95% UI 48 to 112) in 1990 to 114 000 (95% UI 72 to 167) in 2010. Out of all 291 conditions studied in the GBD 2010 Study, gout ranked 138th in terms of disability as measured by YLDs, and 173rd in terms of overall burden (DALYs).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The burden of gout is rising. With increasing ageing populations globally, this evidence is a significant prompt to optimise treatment and management of gout at individual, community and national levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Clinical School, Institute of Bone and Joint Research, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Clinical School, Institute of Bone and Joint Research, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cross
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Tony R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Merriman
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Cabrini Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buchbinder
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Clinical School, Institute of Bone and Joint Research, University of Sydney, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: March
mesh_terms: D017281:Cost of Illness; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014943:Global Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006073:Gout / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors