Objective. To evaluate the Nijmegen Score possibilities application in patients with difficult diagnosis of debuting gouty arthritis (GF) at the outpatient stage.

Materials and methods. The study group included 66 patients diagnosed various types of debuting arthritis (other than GA) outpatient while GA was diagnosed at verifying at to the DR. Two groups of comparison were formed: group 2 (n=103) included patients with GA diagnosed GA at the outpatient stage and confirmed by a rheumatologist; group 3 (n=65) consisted of patients diagnosed other types of arthritis corresponding to those of the study group at the admission. To assess the GA probability the Nijmegen Score including 7 parameters (in points) was used.

Results. In the study group, the medians of the Nijmegen Score were 10.5 (8.5—10.5), in group 2 — 10.5 (8.5—11.5), in group 3 — 3.5 (1.5—5); (H=117.4, p <0.001), there was no difference between the study group and group 2. The number of cases with the score ³ 8 points dominated in the study group (c2=83.39, p<0.001) (c2=114.6, p<0.001) – compare the values in group 2.

Conclusion. Even in cases of the GA difficult diagnosis, the Nijmegen Score allows predicting the diagnosis in 81.8% comparing with its typical clinical course — in 86.4% and in case of other types of arthritis — in 7.7% of patients. Thus, the Nijmegen Score appliance can be an appropriate technique for diagnosing GA at early stages, especially useful for outpatient doctors when the SMU crystals identification is not possible.