Factors Influencing Allopurinol Initiation in Primary Care.

Roddy; Mallen; Clarson; Belcher; Hider

Abstract

Despite guidance on appropriate initiation, urate-lowering therapy is prescribed for only a minority of patients with gout. Electronic health records for 8,142 patients with gout were used to investigate the effect of age, sex, comorbidities, number of consultations, and meeting internationally agreed eligibility criteria on time to allopurinol initiation. Time to first prescription was modeled using multilevel Cox proportional hazards regression. Allopurinol initiation was positively associated with meeting eligibility criteria at diagnosis of gout, but negatively associated with becoming eligible after diagnosis. Managing gout as a chronic disease, with regular reviews to discuss allopurinol treatment, may reduce barriers to treatment.

Citation

Roddy, Mallen, Clarson, Belcher, & Hider. (2017). Factors Influencing Allopurinol Initiation in Primary Care. Annals of Family Medicine, 15(6), 557 - 560. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.213

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 28, 2017
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2017
• Journal: Annals of Family Medicine
• Print ISSN: 1544-1709
• Publisher: Annals of Family Medicine
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 557 - 560
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.213
• Keywords: allopurinol; gout; primary care