Cegedim Strategic Data (CSD), leading provider of integrated health care research, follows Gout disease management with its Longitudinal Patient Database (LPD). The study evaluates the importance of cooperation between GPs and specialists for Gout disease management in Italy.

CSD's Medical Research team in Milan (Italy) carried out a study using LPD to determine the number of patients who visit a GP (General Practitioner) and are diagnosed with gout. They analysed the type and frequency of specialist visits for a targeted evaluation of these gout patients over a 12-month follow-up period.

Out of the 1,126,847 patients regularly followed up by a network of GPs during 2008, 17,241 (1.5%) were diagnosed with gout. Of these patients, a group of 244 also consulted a specialist (i.e., 1.4% of the considered patient population had a visit to a specialist related to gout). Among the hospital specialties, rheumatology had the highest number of consultations. The patients consulting a specialist were defined as "complicated patients" and were assumed to be in need of GPs to manage the disease in cooperation with specialist physicians. The average number of specialist visits among this group was two times higher than the rest of the patients (4.5 vs. 2.3).

Gout is a disease that results from an excessive presence of uric acid in the body. It causes recurring attacks of painful arthritis-like episodes, leading in the long term to joint erosion and consequent destruction, kidney stones and can also lead to kidney failure. CSD's Longitudinal Patient Databases receive anonymised clinical data on a daily basis. The information is collected through a constant panel of over 8,000 office-based Primary and Secondary care physicians worldwide who are equipped with Cegedim's Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software. CSD has Longitudinal Patient Databases (LPD) across 8 countries: Top 5 Europe, Belgium, Australia, and South Korea.

Franca Heiman, Epidemiology and Health Economics Manager of CSD Medical Research Italy, commented "The results show the necessity of cooperation between the GPs and specialists in order to optimize gout treatment for "complicated patients" because they seemed to be cared for by more than one doctor simultaneously."

This research will be presented at the ISPOR 13th Annual European Congress in Prague, Czech Republic, 6-9 November 2010 during Poster Session I (Research Presentation PMS11) at the Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic.

Source:
ISPOR