Guidance
Recommendations for research
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.