Background/Purpose:   To assess gout patients’ baseline knowledge of their disease and to measure knowledge improvement after brief educational session.

Methods:  In this study, 13 patients with history of gout were given a baseline telephone questionnaire with 11 questions about gout, disease management and medication side effects.  Points were given for each correct answer and total score was calculated with a maximum score of 12.5. With each incorrect answer, the patient was educated according to the guideline provided by American College of Rheumatology.  Time spent educating each patient was limited to no more than 10 minutes.  Data was also collected on duration of disease and patient highest level of school achieved.  Two weeks later each patient was called back and the same questionnaire was administered.  New post-educational score was calculated using the same methodology.  Post-educational activity score was compared with pre-educational activity score.  The difference was recorded as a percentage of improvement.

Results:   The baseline pre-educational knowledge score ranged from 1 to 11 with the mean score of 6.0.  Post-educational score ranged from 4 to 11.5 with the mean score of 8.8.  Eighty-five percent of patients improved their knowledge after the educational session.  Mean score for patients with high school and/or college improved by 50 percent.  Mean score for patients with no formal education improved by 136 percent.

Conclusion:   Brief educational intervention can have significant effect on how patients with gout understand their disease and medication side effects.  Patient with low educational level benefit from such activity the most. Further study is needed to determine if this improved understanding leads to better clinical outcomes and safety.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/brief-educational-intervention-improves-gout-patients-understanding-of-their-disease/