Authors (including presenting author) :
Ng SN(1), Chan PS(1), Leung MH(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong
Introduction :
Gout is a common disease and a significant health economic burden. The well-established treat-to-target approach requires achieving a low urate level to prevent recurrent attacks and to start drugs as soon as indicated. Allopurinol is an effective and inexpensive urate-lowering agent but is often under-utilized.
Objectives :
This internal quality audit aims to explore the gout management performance by using allopurinol.
Methodology :
All patients who were diagnosed with gout and newly started with allopurinol in the Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital from January 2016 to December 2017 were identified by the Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System. Data on baseline demographics, baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by MDRD formula, baseline serum urate (sUA) level, the starting and the maximum doses of allopurinol, and the subsequent sUA were collected and analysed. An appropriate starting dose was defined by dose
Result & Outcome :
In total, 140 patients were included. The median age was 73.5 (range 27-93), and 96 (68.6%) were male. 76.4% of allopurinol was initiated in the out-patient setting and only 23.6% were initiated in the acute episode. Moreover, only 59 (42.1%) patients were prescribed with the appropriate renal function adjusted dose and only 33(23.6 %) achieved target sUA level within one year. No dose escalation after drug initiation was observed in 88 (62.8%) patients. The maximum dose given in the majority (83.6%) was
Co-location with:
