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.
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.
Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience
April 30th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.
Listen
Latest Advances and Updates of Treatment in the Real World at AUA
May 1st 2024The annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) not only presents the newest therapies coming out but showcases the latest in how treatments are being used in the real world, said Stephen Freedland, MD, of Cedars Sinai.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Dr Kathy Zackowski Discusses the Importance of Rehabilitation Research and Trials in MS
April 26th 2024Kathy Zackowski, PhD, National MS Society, expresses the inherent value of quality rehabilitation trials for broadening clinical understandings of multiple sclerosis (MS) and bettering patient outcomes.
Read More