Gout can increase the risk of periodontal disease in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To evaluate the risk of periodontal disease (PD) in gout patients.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. The gout cohort included 31,759 patients newly diagnosed with gout from 2000 to 2012, and the comparison (nongout) cohort included 63,517 patients. Univariate and multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs), with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were estimated using the Cox proportional hazard model for determining the occurrence of PD in both cohorts. We also measured the cumulative incidence of PD in these two cohorts using the Kaplan–Meier method and assessed the curve difference using the log-rank test.

Results: The mean follow-up time was more than 6 years for both cohorts. The overall incidence rate of PD was significantly higher in the gout cohort than in the comparison cohort (5.04 vs 4.16 per 10,000 person-years; aHR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.10–1.16). Only patients using colchicine had a significantly lower risk of PD (aHR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.79–0.91).

Conclusion: In our study, patients with gout showed an increased risk of PD, and treatment with colchicine could decrease the risk.

Abbreviations: PD: periodontal disease; LHID: Longitudinal Health Insurance Research Database; NHIRD, National Health Insurance Research Database; ICD-9-CM: International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification; CI: confidence interval; HR: hazard ratio

KEYWORDS:

• Gout
• periodontal disease
• cohort study

Author contributions

All authors have contributed significantly to the manuscript, and all are in agreement with the content of the manuscript: Conception/Design: Hsin-Hung Chen, Chia-Hung Kao; provision of study materials: Chia-Hung Kao; collection and/or assembly of data: all authors; data analysis and interpretation: all authors; manuscript writing: all authors; final approval of manuscript: all authors.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interest.

Reviewers disclosure

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported in part by Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial Center (MOHW109-TDU-B-212-114004), China Medical University Hospital (CMU107-ASIA-19); MOST Clinical Trial Consortium for Stroke (MOST 108-2321-B-039-003-), Tseng-Lien Lin Foundation, Taichung, Taiwan. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding was received for this study.