Dr Ted Mikuls on Gout Study: BMI Was Independent of Amputation Rate

Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, Stokes-Shackleford professor of rheumatology, vice chair for research, internal medicine at the University of Nebraska, explains how lower extremity amputation among US veterans with gout was independent of body mass index (BMI) and other risk factors.

Transcript

Gout was associated with a 20% increase in the rate of lower extremity amputation, and patients with gout were more likely to have high BMI. Is this an important factor?

We actually included BMI as a covariate in the analysis. In other words, we accounted for differences in BMI, at least at baseline. The finding presented—the 20% increase in the rate of lower extremity amputation in gout patients—was independent of body mass index, at least at baseline. So, while BMI is a really important variable, and we know that gout patients more often suffer from obesity, the findings we're seeing appear to be independent of that. We have these patients that were matched based on age and sex. We accounted for that through that matching process, so the findings are independent of age, sex, year of the study, essentially, and then many other factors, including BMI and also including comorbidities that have been associated with amputation such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and cigarette smoking was another factor we included in that. [The findings are] independent of all those other risk factors.

Transcript edited for clarity.