Prescribing patterns and healthcare costs of gout.

The Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) 2010 was used to identify gout cases and their number of gout flares. Out of 21,376 gout patients, a total of 3,561 (16.7%) had frequent gout flares (> = 3 gout flares/year). Average all-cause healthcare utilization (35.9 visits vs. 30.7 visits; P < 0.001) and gout-related utilization (22.7 visits vs. 15.6 visits; p < 0.001) were higher in frequent gout flare patients than in those with infrequent gout flares. The median gout-related cost (USD $369 vs. $285; p < 0.001), but not all-cause costs (P = 0.25), were higher in frequent gout flare patients compared to the infrequent group. Over 55.8% of the flares were treated with colchicine + NSAIDs. In conclusion, patients with frequent gout flares had higher healthcare utilization and gout-related healthcare costs. Colchicine + NSAIDs are commonly used therapy for gout flare.