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Screening for hyperuricaemia and gout: a perspective and research agenda

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 10, pages 752–756 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

The goal of a screening programme is to reduce an adverse health outcome in a defined population. Screening can be undertaken at several stages throughout the disease course: before the onset of disease, early in the course of the disease, or in established disease (for complications). In the setting of asymptomatic hyperuricaemia and gout, the aim of screening would be to identify those individuals with hyperuricaemia and therefore at risk of gout, with the aim of introducing interventions to prevent the onset of gout. Herein we consider the concepts of screening for hyperuricaemia and gout, potential screening methods, and target populations that might benefit from such an approach.

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Figure 1: Potential screening points in the pathological stages of hyperuricaemia and gout.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Otago, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

    Lisa Stamp

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, School of Medicine, 85 Park Road, Auckland, 1023, New Zealand

    Nicola Dalbeth

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  1. Lisa Stamp
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Both authors contributed equally to all aspects of preparing the article.

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Correspondence to Lisa Stamp.

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Competing interests

L.S. declares she has received consulting fees from AstraZeneca. N.D. declares she has received consulting or speaker fees from Takeda, Savient, Menorini, AstraZeneca, Ardea, Novartis, Metabolex and Fonterra.

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Stamp, L., Dalbeth, N. Screening for hyperuricaemia and gout: a perspective and research agenda. Nat Rev Rheumatol 10, 752–756 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2014.139

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