Recommendations for research
The guideline committee has made the following recommendations for research.
Key recommendations for research
1 Pharmacological management of gout flares
In people with gout (including people with gout and chronic kidney disease [CKD]), what is the clinical and cost effectiveness of colchicine compared with corticosteroids for managing gout flares?
For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendation for research, see the rationale section on managing gout flares .
Full details of the evidence and the committee's discussion are in evidence review D: pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for managing gout flares.
2 Preventing gout flares
In people with gout (including people with gout and CKD), what is the clinical and cost effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or corticosteroids for preventing gout flares when starting or titrating urate-lowering therapy (ULT)?
For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendation for research, see the rationale section on preventing gout flares when starting or titrating ULT .
Full details of the evidence and the committee's discussion are in evidence review H: colchicine, NSAIDs, corticosteroids and IL-1 inhibitors for the prevention of gout flares during the initiation or titration of urate-lowering therapy.
3 Target serum urate level
What is the best and most cost-effective target serum urate level when using a treat‑to‑target strategy to treat gout, including in people with CKD?
For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendation for research, see the rationale section on target serum urate level .
Full details of the evidence and the committee's discussion are in evidence review K: best serum urate level target to use when treating-to-target in gout?.
4 Follow-up after a gout flare
What is the clinical and cost effectiveness and patient acceptability of different approaches to follow-up, including provision of patient information and managing gout flares?
For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendation for research, see the rationale section on follow-up after a gout flare .
Full details of the evidence and the committee's discussion are in evidence review M: follow-up for people with gout after a gout flare.
5 Monitoring gout
In people with gout (including people with gout and CKD), what is the most clinically and cost-effective frequency of serum urate level monitoring when target serum urate level is reached?
For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendation for research, see the rationale section on monitoring serum urate level .
Full details of the evidence and the committee's discussion are in evidence review L: optimum frequency of monitoring.
Other recommendations for research
6 When to start urate-lowering therapy
What is the clinical and cost effectiveness of starting ULT during a flare compared with starting ULT once a flare has settled?
For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendation for research, see the rationale section on management of gout with urate-lowering therapies .
Full details of the evidence and the committee's discussion are in evidence review F: timing of urate-lowering therapy in relation to a flare in people with gout.