Characteristics and outcomes of people with gout hospitalized due to COVID-19: data from the COVID19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician-reported registry

Objective: To describe people with gout who were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and hospitalized, and characterize their outcomes.
Methods: Data on patients with gout hospitalized for COVID-19 between March 12th, 2020 and October 25th, 2021 were extracted from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (C19-GRA) registry. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographics, comorbidities, medication exposures and COVID-19 outcomes including oxygenation or ventilation support and death.
Results: One hundred and sixty three patients with gout who developed COVID-19 and were hospitalized were included. The mean age was 63 years and 85% were male. The majority of the group lived in Western Pacific Region (35%) and North America (18%). Nearly half (46%) had two or more comorbidities, with hypertension (56%), cardiovascular disease (28%), diabetes mellitus (26%), chronic kidney disease (25%) and obesity (23%) being the most common. Glucocorticoids and colchicine were used in 11% and 12% of the cohort respectively. Over two-thirds (68%) of the cohort required supplemental oxygen or ventilatory support during hospitalization. COVID-19-related death was reported in 16% of the overall cohort, with 73% of deaths documented in people with two or more comorbidities.
Conclusion: This cohort of people with gout and COVID-19 who were hospitalized had high frequencies of ventilatory support, and death. This suggests that patients with gout hospitalized for COVID-19 may be at risk of poor outcomes, perhaps related to known risks for poor outcomes such as age and presence of comorbidity.