Improved health-related quality of life and physical function in patients with refractory chronic gout following treatment with pegloticase: evidence from phase III randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of pegloticase on pain, physical function, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with refractory chronic gout.

METHODS: Subjects in 2 replicate, 6-month, randomized controlled phase III trials received intravenous infusions of pegloticase 8 mg twice monthly (biweekly group), pegloticase alternating with placebo (8-mg monthly group), or placebo. Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), patient global assessment of disease activity (PtGA), and pain by visual analog scale were completed at weeks 1 (baseline), 13, 19, and 25. Prespecified pooled analyses of patient-reported outcomes were performed by combining values for each treatment group (biweekly treatment, monthly treatment, and placebo) at Week 25.

RESULTS: Of 212 patients enrolled, 157 (74.1%) completed treatment. At entry, mean age was 55.4 years (range 23-89 yrs) and mean plasma uric acid was 9.7 mg/dl; most were male (81.6%) and white (67.5%). Subjects reported an average of 9.8 flares in the previous 18 months. Baseline SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) scores were > 1.5 SD below US normative values. At Week 25, mean changes from baseline in PtGA, pain, HAQ-DI, and PCS scores were statistically significant and exceeded minimum clinically important differences (MCID) in the biweekly treatment group, compared with little to no improvement in placebo group. Statistically significant improvements greater than or equal to MCID were reported in 6 of 8 SF-36 domains. Monthly pegloticase resulted in significantly improved PtGA, HAQ-DI, PCS, and 3 SF-36 domains.

CONCLUSION: Pegloticase therapy resulted in statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in PtGA, pain, physical function, and HRQOL.