Study Links Sleep Apnea to Increased Gout Risk

A new analysis from researchers in the United Kingdom finds that sleep apnea is independently associated with a greater risk of gout.

Researchers studied a cohort of 9,865 patients with newly diagnosed sleep apnea, and 43,598 matched individuals without sleep apnea. Among patients with sleep apnea, the incidence rate of gout was 8.4 per 1,000 person years. That number stood at 4.8 per 1,000 person years in the group without sleep apnea. Adjusting for other potential confounders did not significantly change the effect estimate, according to the investigators, who note that a greater risk of incident gout related to sleep apnea was consistent across various subgroups, including age, sex, and obesity status.

The crude rate difference of incident gout between sleep apnea patients and the comparison cohort was 3.6 per 1,000 person years. The adjusted rate difference was 2.8 per 1,000 person years. In addition, the risk of gout was 60% higher among patients with sleep apnea in comparison to those who were at a very high risk of developing gout due to a high body mass index (BMI). The authors note, however, that incident gout was not common in the study cohort. Overall, 270 participants developed the condition during a 1-year follow-up period, with 76 coming from the sleep apnea cohort and 194 from the group without sleep apnea.

Given its findings, the study “adds gout to the list of medical conditions that co-exist with sleep apnea,” says Maureen Dubreuil, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University Medical School of Medicine, and co-author of the study.

Thus, primary care providers “should be aware that gout incidence is increased in sleep apnea patients, and should periodically ask those patients about symptoms of gout—acute onset join pain, swelling, redness, and heat,” says Dubreuil.

While noting that this study “cannot tell us if treatment of sleep apnea will reduce the risk of developing gout, or reduce the number of gout attacks,” Dubreuil says that “this will likely be the subject of future studies.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Zhang Y, Peloquin C, et al. Sleep Apnea and the Risk of Incident Gout: A Population-Based Body Mass Index-Matched Cohort Study. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2015.