Results

Demographic and Clinical CharacteristicsTwo-hundred thirteen questionnaires were completed by adult patients currently diagnosed with gout and receiving medical treatment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Table 1). Patients ≥51 years of age had the most frequently recurring attacks of gout after starting treatment—109 (51.2%) of them with uncontrolled gout attacks and 55 (25.8%) with controlled gout. Among patients 20–50 years of age, 18 (8.5%) had uncontrolled gout attacks, and 22 (10.3%) had controlled gout (P=0.002). Among male and female patients, 80 (37.6%) and 51 (23.9%) individuals, respectively, indicated that they had uncontrolled gout, compared with 57 (26.8%) and 25 (11.7%) who had controlled gout (P=0.231). One hundred twenty (56.3%) and 78 (36.6%) patients from Saudi Arabia had controlled and uncontrolled gout, respectively, while eleven (5.1%) and four (1.9%) patients of other nationalities had controlled and uncontrolled gout, respectively (P=0.432). Seventy-nine (37.1%) and 123 (57.7%) patients with body mass index (BMI) values between 25 and 30 had controlled and uncontrolled gout, respectively, compared with three (1.4%) and five (2.3%) patients with BMIs <25 (P=0.384). Likewise, 32 patients with obesity (15.0%) had uncontrolled gout (the highest proportion among the various groups of patients with comorbidities), followed by 23 patients with dyslipidemia (10.8%). The chronic disease associated with the highest proportion of controlled gout was hypertension (n=31, 14.55%), followed by the ”others” category (n=21, 9.9%) (P=0.041). In terms of educational level, the highest proportions of uncontrolled and controlled gout were among participants with bachelor’s degrees as their highest level of education (n=67, 31.5% and n=38, 17.8%, respectively). Patients with secondary school certificates as their highest educational level were next, with 24 (11.3%) and 17 (8.0%) participants indicating that they had uncontrolled and controlled gout, respectively (P=0.341). In terms of employment status, participants with full-time jobs (n=48, 22.5% and n=55, 25.8%, respectively) had the highest proportions of uncontrolled and controlled gout, followed by retired and unemployed patients (n=5, 11.7% and n=15, 7.0%) (P=0.052).Table 1. Demographic and Clinical Characteristics