The Impact of Gout Flare Triggers: A Qualitative Interview Study of People With Gout [Letter] - Rennie, Julia; Frecklington, Mike; Ihaka, Belinda; Dalbeth, Nicola; Stewart, Sarah (Wiley, 2024)
Recurrent gout flares are the primary clinical characteristic of gout, resulting in intense inflammation and pain. A number of triggering factors for gout flares have been identified by people with gout, including factors related to physical activity and joint trauma [1], medical illness [2], vaccinations [3], diet [4-6], alcohol [7], and medications (e.g., diuretics, low-dose aspirin) [8, 9]. Despite the extensive reporting of gout flare triggers [1-9], an in-depth qualitative inquiry exploring how these triggers impact people with gout has not been reported. It is unknown how gout flare triggers may impact day-to-day life for people with gout, including the adoption of trigger avoidance behaviours, modification of activities and the impact these may have on psychological wellbeing. Understanding the impact of gout flare triggers from the perspective of people with gout, may advocate for the important role of urate lowering therapy, coupled with trigger avoidance behaviours, in the long-term management of gout. We therefore conducted a qualitative interview study to understand the impact of flare triggers from the perspective of people with gout.
Keywords: 1103 Clinical Sciences; 1107 Immunology; 1108 Medical Microbiology; 3202 Clinical sciences; 3204 Immunology