Health system expenditure
In 2020–21, an estimated $230.8 million of expenditure in the Australian health system was attributed to gout, representing 0.2% of total health system expenditure and 1.6% of expenditure for all musculoskeletal conditions (AIHW 2023b).
The distribution of health system expenditure on gout by age and sex reflects the prevalence distribution, with spending concentrated amongst older age groups and males.
For more information, see Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia, 2020–21.
How many deaths were associated with gout?
Gout was recorded as an underlying and/or associated cause for 573 deaths or 2.2 deaths per 100,000 population in Australia in 2022. This represented 0.3% of all deaths and 5.5% of all musculoskeletal deaths.
Gout was the underlying cause for 34 deaths (5.9% of gout deaths) and an associated cause only, for 539 deaths (94% of gout deaths).
After adjusting for different population age structures over time, gout mortality rates (underlying and/or associated cause) changed little between 2012 and 2022 (1.4 and 1.6 per 100,000 population, respectively).
Treatment and management of gout
Gout can be managed or even prevented by long-term therapy with medications and lifestyle changes to control hyperuricaemia and reduce levels of uric acid in the body.
Gout can be controlled with early and ongoing treatment, including:
- establishing a definitive diagnosis
- providing rapid pain relief for flares
- preventing flares and complications (Graf et al. 2015; Ragab et al. 2017; Richette et al. 2016).
Flares and complications can be managed by reducing risk factors for hyperuricaemia (dehydration, obesity and alcohol intake), taking urate-lowering medications to keep uric acid levels low, and managing comorbid conditions, such as high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, diabetes and heart disease (Ragab et al. 2017).
The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), low-dose colchicine and oral/intra-muscular/intra-articular glucocorticoids has also been found to be effective in managing acute gout (Graf et al. 2015; Richette et al. 2016).
What role do hospitals play in treating gout?
People with gout may require admission to hospital when they experience sudden attacks (flares) of severe pain, swelling, redness, heat, tenderness and stiffness in the affected joints. These flares can last for days or weeks and are followed by long periods without any symptoms.
Data from the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD) show that in 2021–22, there were 21,700 hospitalisations with a principal or additional diagnosis (any diagnosis) of gout, representing 0.2% of all hospitalisations.
The rest of this section discusses hospitalisations with a principal diagnosis of gout, unless otherwise stated. However, charts and tables also include statistics for any diagnosis of gout.
In 2021–22:
- there were 7,100 hospitalisations, representing 0.1% of all hospitalisations and 27 hospitalisations per 100,000 population
- gout accounted for 29,500 bed days, representing 0.1% of all bed days
- 77% of gout hospitalisations were overnight stays, with an average length of 5.1 days (Figure 2).
Variation by age and sex
In 2021–22, gout hospitalisation rates:
- increased with increasing age and were highest for people aged 85 and over (210 per 100,000 population)
- were 3.7 times as high for males compared with females (43 and 12 per 100,000 population, respectively) (Figure 2).
Trends over time
Between 2011–12 and 2021–22, gout hospitalisation rates remained stable (25 to 27 per 100,000 population).
Figure 2: Age distribution for gout hospitalisations, by sex, 2021–22
