Tight Control of Gouty Arthritis Compared to Usual Care

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

120 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-06-12

Study Completion Date

2028-12-31

Brief Summary

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Gout is caused by a reaction to urate crystals that results in attacks of severe joint pain. Medicines that lower urate levels can prevent gout flares, however it takes time for this benefit to be felt, and paradoxically starting treatment with large doses of urate lowering treatment risks provoking attacks of gout. Medical guidelines disagree on the best way to overcome these challenges with many recommending medicine dose adjustment based on regular urate testing but a general practice guideline suggesting more simply increasing the medicine dose in those patients that continue to suffer flares. In reality most patients are not treated at all, and many of those that are treated never receive an effective dose of treatment. We have developed a supported self-management approach to gout in which patients monitor their own urate levels using a finger prick test, and then receive advice on adjusting their treatment dose to achieve target urate levels through a smartphone app (Gout SMART). A trial of this approach has shown that it results in much better control of urate levels after 6 months than usual care, and suggests that it also leads to fewer flares. We would now like to confirm that this approach is effective in reducing flares of gout over 2 years by randomising patients to either treatment-to-target urate using our self-monitoring approach, or to usual care.

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Detailed Description

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A total of approximately 120 participants will be recruited. We anticipate that most participants will be identified following referral to rheumatology outpatient or on-call services in National Health Service (NHS) Lothian, or through NHS Lothian's gout liaison service. Additional patients may indicate their willingness to participate directly in response to study advertisements.

Based on baseline renal function and flare frequency, an individual treatment plan will be drawn up for all participants which will set a ceiling on the maximum dose of allopurinol to be used within the trial and determine the need for flare prophylaxis with colchicine. Participants will be randomized to the intervention group in a 1:1 ratio, with stratification by the need for use of flare prophylaxis.

All participants will have a smart phone application (GoutSMART) uploaded to their smart phones. Usual care participants will have a limited version of the GoutSMART application installed which includes background information about gout and provides a means for participants to maintain diaries of gout flares. Subjects in the usual care arm of the study will have treatment escalation decisions made by their GPs. Subjects in the treat-to-target arm will be taught to self-test serum urate using a BeneCheck Plus hand held device and provided with test strips. A full version of the GoutSMART application will be installed with the features mentioned above but also the facility to record a urate diary. Participants will be prompted to check their serum urate and enter the results into the GoutSMART application. Participants reporting a urate level \>0.3mmol/l will be advised to increase the dose of allopurinol incrementally as specified in their treatment plan. No change will be advised in those whose urate levels are already at target. If the patient needs to increase allopurinol there will be an automatic reminder after two weeks prompting the patients to submit updated self-test results which will be handled in the same way as described above. Conversely for participants achieving target levels this will be acknowledged and a request to resubmit readings will be sent on a monthly basis.

Conditions

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Gout

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Randomized clinical trial

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Treat-to-target

All participants will have the GoutSMART application installed on their phones, and be offered a management plan including the use of flare prophylaxis and maximum advised dose of allopurinol based on renal function. All Participants in the treat-to-target group will be provided with a BeneCheck hand-held device and taught to perform urate finger prick self-testing. Participants will be prompted to submit urate readings by the GoutSMART app and if urate levels remain above target their allopurinol will be increased incrementally up to the pre-specified maximum dose of allopurinol.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Treat-to-target

Intervention Type OTHER

Treatment to achieve urate target using supported self-management approach

Usual care

All participants will have the GoutSMART application installed on their phones, and be offered a management plan including the use of flare prophylaxis and maximum advised dose of allopurinol based on renal function to achieve urate target. Participants in the usual care arm of the study will have their treatment reviewed and escalated by their GPs in line with usual practice.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Usual Care

Intervention Type OTHER

Treatment escalation by GP based on usual clinical practice

Interventions

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Treat-to-target

Treatment to achieve urate target using supported self-management approach

Intervention Type OTHER

Usual Care

Treatment escalation by GP based on usual clinical practice

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Provision of informed consent.
* Age ≥18 years.
* Patient has sustained at least one flare of gout in the previous 12 months.
* Confirmed clinical diagnosis of gout as per ACR/EULAR criteria
* Serum urate \>0.36mm/L.
* Patient has a smart phone and is able to install GoutSMART application.

Exclusion Criteria

* Subject unable to provide consent
* Patient on maximum urate lowering therapy or where therapy cannot be escalated further due to intolerance/adverse reaction to either allopurinol or febuxostat.
* End stage renal failure/transplant
* Current prescription of medication known to interact with xanthine oxidase inhibitors such as azathioprine or mercapto-purine.

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No