Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the study population and prevalence (95% CI) of comorbidities in gout cases at the time of first diagnosis and statistical comparisons between all gout patients and controls

Men (N = 9513)

Women (N = 4600)

Total (N = 14,113)

Men (N = 43,730)

Women (N = 22,052)

Total (N = 65,782)

Age at diagnosis (years), mean (SD)

65.3 (14.9)

71.1 (15.1)

67.2 (15.2)

64.4 (14.6)

70.7 (15.0)

66.5 (15.0)

  ≤ 9 years

3560 (37.4)

2169 (47.2)

15,531 (35.5)

9419 (42.7)

 10–12 years

4047 (42.6)

1655 (36.0)

17,349 (39.7)

7699 (34.9)

  > 12 years

1766 (18.6)

690 (15.0)

10,254 (23.5)

4509 (20.5)

Comorbidities, total (%)

74.4

81.2

76.6

52.8

61.3

55.7

Comorbidities suggested to increase SU level (%)

52.2

62.8

59.1

25.7

31.7

27.7

 Psoriasis, PR (95% CI)

3.6 (3.3–4.0)

4.0 (3.4–4.6)

3.7 (3.4–4.1)

2.7 (2.5–2.8)

2.8 (2.6–3.0)

2.7 (2.6–2.8)

 Organ transplantation, PR (95% CI)

1.1 (0.9–1.3)

1.2 (0.9–1.5)

1.1 (1.0–1.3)

0.4 (0.3–0.5)

0.5 (0.4–0.5)

0.4 (0.4–0.5)

 Renal disease, PR (95% CI)

12.2 (11.5–12.9)

11.1 (10.1–12.1)

11.8 (11.3–12.4)

5.1 (4.9–5.3)

3.4 (3.2–3.6)

4.5 (4.4–4.7)

 Use of diuretics, PR (95% CI)

39.1 (37.8–40.4)

53.4 (51.3–55.5)

43.7 (42.7–44.8)

15.8 (15.5–16.2)

24.3 (23.6–25.0)

18.7 (18.4–19.0)

 Obesity, PR (95% CI)

9.5 (8.9–10.1)

12.2 (11.2–13.2)

10.4 (10.0–11.0)

3.5 (3.3–3.7)

4.8 (4.5–5.1)

3.9 (3.8–4.1)

 Alcoholism

5.1 (4.6–5.5)

1.8 (1.5–2.2)

4.0 (3.7–4.3)

2.9 (2.7–3.1)

0.9 (0.8–1.1)

2.2 (2.1–2.3)

Other comorbidities (%)

69.3

76.9

71.8

48.4

57.3

51.3

 Diabetes, PR (95% CI)

14.9 (14.1–15.7)

18.3 (17.1–19.6)

16.0 (15.4–16.7)

9.5 (9.2–9.8)

8.6 (8.2–9.0)

9.2 (9.0–9.4)

 Hypertension, PR (95% CI)

64.5 (62.9–66.1)

72.3 (69.9–74.8)

67.0 (65.7–68.4)

41.4 (40.8–42.0)

50.2 (49.3–51.1)

44.3 (43.8–44.9)

 Coronary heart disease, PR (95% CI)

19.5 (18.6–20.4)

18.2 (17.0–19.5)

19.1 (18.4–19.8)

13.7 (13.3–14.0)

11.8 (11.4–12.3)

13.0 (12.8–13.3)

 Congestive heart failure, PR (95% CI)

16.2 (16.1–17.8)

21.4 (20.1–22.8)

18.4 (17.7–19.1)

6.5 (6.3–6.8)

7.7 (7.3–8.1)

6.9 (6.7–7.1)

 Atrial fibrillation, PR (95% CI)

18.6 (17.7–19.5)

19.0 (17.8–20.3)

18.7 (18.0–19.5)

7.5 (7.3–7.8)

7.7 (7.3–8.1)

7.6 (7.4–7.8)

 Stroke, PR (95% CI)

8.3 (7.7–8.9)

9.4 (8.6–10.3)

8.7 (8.2–9.2)

6.9 (6.6–7.1)

7.9 (7.5–8.3)

7.2 (7.0–7.4)

 Thromboembolism, PR (95% CI)

9.7 (9.1–10.4)

13.6 (12.6–14.7)

11.0 (10.5–11.6)

5.4 (5.2–5.6)

7.3 (7.0–7.7)

6.0 (5.8–6.2)

 Peripheral vascular disease, PR (95% CI)

4.5 (4.1–5.0)

5.5 (4.8–6.2)

4.8 (4.5–5.2)

2.2 (2.0–2.3)

2.6 (2.4–2.8)

2.3 (2.2–2.4)

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, PR (95% CI)

4.9 (4.5–5.4)

6.5 (5.8–7.3)

5.5 (5.1–5.9)

2.3 (2.1–2.4)

3.2 (3.0–3.4)

2.6 (2.5–2.7)