Clinical features of women with gouty arthritis in Cameroon, sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Background: Limited data are available on the characteristics of women with gout in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objectives: To assess  differences in clinical features of gouty arthritis between female and male patients in a Cameroonian population.

Methods: A cross- sectional study from January 2004 to December 2013 was conducted in the Rheumatology Unit of the General Hospital, Douala,  Cameroon, including patients diagnosed with gout according to 1977 ACR criteria. A comparison between female and male patients with  gout was made.

Results: We included 511 patients (96 women and 415 men). Women were older than men at the time of the diagnosis  (62.56 ± 11.02 years vs. 54.45 ± 10.22 years; p<0.001). Gouty arthritis in Cameroonian women was characterized (p<0.05) by: (i) a late age  at onset, mainly after menopause, with women older than men at the time of diagnosis; (ii) a higher frequency of hyperuricemia, but with  uric acid levels lower compared to men; (iii) a lower frequency of structural joint damage; (iv) a greater frequency of comorbidities  (particularly the metabolic syndrome components) and drugs intake like diuretics and low-dose aspirin. The distribution of joint damage  was not different between the two sexes in our study. Women had globally fewer tophi than men (p<0.05), but they had more tophi at the  proximal (p=0.01) and distal (p=0.03) interphalangeal joints than men.

Conclusion: Gout in women seems to present specific  characteristics. Further studies with robust design are needed to understand these differences