Contemporary Prevalence of Gout and Hyperuricemia in the United States and Decadal Trends: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007–2016

To estimate the current prevalence rates and decadal trends of gout and hyperuricemia in the US, as well as the prevalence of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) among gout patients, using 2007-2016 data from a nationally representative survey of American men and women (the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES]).

Using data from 5,467 participants in the NHANES 2015-2016, we estimated the most recent prevalence rates of gout and hyperuricemia. When the NHANES was conducted, all participants were asked about their history of gout (as diagnosed by a health professional) and medication use. Hyperuricemia was defined as having a serum urate level of >7.0 mg/dl in men and >5.7 mg/dl in women. We examined decadal trends in these estimates using data from the NHANES 2007-2016 and investigated ULT usage trends using the NHANES 2007-14 (the most recent data available to date).