Greater alcohol intake tied to higher gout risk

Higher consumption of alcoholic beverages is associated with a higher risk for gout among both sexes, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Network Open.

Jie-Qiong Lyu, from Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University in China, and colleagues evaluated the consumption of total and specific alcoholic beverages in association with incident gout in men and women. The analysis included data from 401,128 participants in the U.K. Biobank (aged 37 to 73 years and free of gout at baseline in 2006 to 2010), who were followed through 2021.

The researchers found that current drinkers had a higher risk for gout than never drinkers among men (hazard ratio [HR], 1.69; 95% confidence interval, 1.30 to 2.18) but not among women (HR, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.67 to 1.03). Among current drinkers, higher total alcohol consumption was associated with greater risk for gout, particularly among men (men: HR, 2.05; women: HR, 1.34). In both men and women, consumption of champagne or white wine, beer or cider, and spirits was associated with a higher risk for gout, with the strongest effect seen for beer or cider per 1 pint per day (men: HR, 1.60; women: HR, 1.62).

“The observed sex-specific difference in the association of total alcohol consumption with incident gout may be owing to differences between men and women in the types of alcohol consumed rather than biological differences,” the authors write.

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