OSA patients are at high risk of gout due to pathophysiological processes that may cause hyperuricemia and ultimately gout or due to common risk factors among both ailments. As observed from this study, the patients with OSA found to have two times of gout risk which vansihed following adequate statistical adjustment for heart failure, BMI, recent diuretics use, etc.

The risk of gout in patients with OSA has been examined in this study.

All patients aged ≥40 years with a 1^st diagnosis of gout from years’ 1987 – 2014 were included in this population-based case-control study. The gout cases were matched by birth year, sex, and practice to the non-gout controls. Gout risk with an earlier diagnosis of OSA was evaluated using conditional logistic regression. The adjustment of analyses was as per the lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and latest drug use.

Total of 111, 599 were matched with 210,241 controls. OSA patients were at higher risk of gout (OR 1.86; 95%CI (1.71–2.02). Nevertheless, this relationship vanished after the adjustment for alcohol consumption and smoking, body mass index (BMI), former heart failure, renal function, diabetes, and the use of diuretics and additional medicines. Gout risk was found to increase among women with OSA and patients with heart failure, renal impairment, or raised BMI.

Following adjustment, the perceived association between OSA and gout vanished.