YOUR CONDITION, EXPLAINED
Gout VA disability rating & claim guide
The VA rates Gout under diagnostic code 5017, in 38 CFR § 4.71a (musculoskeletal system). This guide lists two evaluation levels for it: 10% and 0%; the code's evaluation is set through another part of the schedule, so check the criteria against the regulation.
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A CLEARER PATH FORWARD
Make sense of your next step.
01Understand the rating02Know what to gather03Plan your preparationTHE ESSENTIALS
How the VA rates Gout
Gout is a crystalline arthritis in which uric acid crystals deposit in joints, causing sudden, intensely painful attacks — classically in the big toe — and, over time, joint damage. VA rates it under DC 5017 on limitation of motion of the joints it affects.
DC 5017 has no percentage criteria of its own. The whole of its rating rule is the note that closes its block: "Evaluate the diseases under diagnostic codes 5013 through 5024 as degenerative arthritis, based on limitation of motion of affected parts." That routes to DC 5003, which rates "on the basis of limitation of motion under the appropriate diagnostic codes for the specific joint or joints involved (DC 5200 etc.)" — so the percentage is whatever the affected joint's own code provides, and it differs joint by joint. There is no single ladder. Only where that joint's limitation of motion is noncompensable does a fixed 10 percent apply, per joint, combined rather than added. DC 5003's own X-ray-based 20 and 10 percent ratings are expressly unavailable here: "Note (2): The 20 pct and 10 pct ratings based on X-ray findings, above, will not be utilized in rating conditions listed under diagnostic codes 5013 to 5024, inclusive." 38 CFR 4.45(f) defines which joints count — shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle are major joints, and specified finger, toe and vertebral groups are groups of minor joints. 38 CFR 4.59 supplies a floor: actually painful, unstable or malaligned joints are "entitled to at least the minimum compensable rating for the joint." Because the evaluation is assigned on the residual condition, a decision letter normally shows a hyphenated code such as 5017-5271 rather than a bare 5017 (38 CFR 4.27).
- Diagnostic code
- 5017
- Rating schedule
- 38 CFR § 4.71a
- Levels in this guide
- 10% and 0%
EXPLORE THE PERCENTAGES
Gout VA rating criteria (DC 5017)
Choose a percentage to see what that level means. Open the full comparison to read all the criteria in one place.
These are published rating criteria. Selecting a level does not predict your VA decision.
BUILD YOUR EVIDENCE, ONE PIECE AT A TIME
Evidence for your Gout claim
A long list feels easier when you have a place to start. Use this checklist to see what you have and what still needs gathering.
Check off what you’ve gathered. Progress stays on this page until you leave or refresh.
THE EXAM FORM
Which DBQ is used for Gout?
VA publishes its questionnaires by body system; find the one for this condition on VA's list.
Source: VA: Public Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs), read September 18, 2026.
THE EVERYDAY PICTURE
What the Gout examination has to record
The criteria above are read off an examination, and three sections of Part 4 govern what that examination has to contain. None of them is a diagnostic code, so none of them appears in the 5017 table, and all three apply to it. 38 CFR § 4.40: “Weakness is as important as limitation of motion, and a part which becomes painful on use must be regarded as seriously disabled.”
38 CFR § 4.45 lists what an examination of a joint is directed to consider:
- Less movement than normal (due to ankylosis, limitation or blocking, adhesions, tendon-tie-up, contracted scars, etc.).
- More movement than normal (from flail joint, resections, nonunion of fracture, relaxation of ligaments, etc.).
- Weakened movement (due to muscle injury, disease or injury of peripheral nerves, divided or lengthened tendons, etc.).
- Excess fatigability.
- Incoordination, impaired ability to execute skilled movements smoothly.
- Pain on movement, swelling, deformity or atrophy of disuse.
38 CFR § 4.59: “It is the intention to recognize actually painful, unstable, or malaligned joints, due to healed injury, as entitled to at least the minimum compensable rating for the joint.” So a joint that is painful on use is not a finding of nothing, even where the measured motion is close to normal.
The same section says how the joint is to be tested: “The joints involved should be tested for pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing and, if possible, with the range of the opposite undamaged joint.” An examination that records one measurement, taken once, sitting down, has not done what the section asks, and that is worth reading the exam report for.
SMALL DETAILS. BETTER PREPARATION.
Preparing your Gout claim
Start with the practical tips, then explore the common oversights. You don’t need to work through everything at once.
Practical tips for your claim4 tips
- 01
Get range-of-motion measured for each joint gout has damaged, and make sure the examiner records it. Since February 7, 2021 the percentage comes from the affected joint's limitation of motion, not from how often you flare.
- 02
Ask that painful motion be documented specifically. 38 CFR 4.59 entitles an actually painful joint to at least the minimum compensable rating for that joint.
- 03
List every affected joint separately. Each major joint or group of minor joints with noncompensable limitation of motion carries its own 10 percent, combined rather than added.
- 04
Keep uric acid results and any synovial fluid analysis in the file — they establish the diagnosis, even though they do not set the percentage.
C&P exam pitfalls to keep in mind2 tips
- 01
Being examined between attacks with no range-of-motion deficit recorded, so nothing supports a compensable evaluation.
- 02
An examiner documenting attack history in detail but omitting joint measurements, which is the evidence the current criteria actually turn on.
Common filing mistakes3 tips
- 01
Building the claim around flare frequency. VA removed gout from the exacerbation-frequency ladder on February 7, 2021; DC 5002 is now titled "Multi-joint arthritis (except post-traumatic and gout)" and DC 5009 "Other specified forms of arthropathy (excluding gout)".
- 02
Filing without any range-of-motion findings, which leaves the only rating criterion the code uses undocumented.
- 03
Not claiming every joint involved, since each one can carry its own evaluation.
When symptoms may first appear2 tips
- 01
Gout is influenced by diet, genetics, and sometimes medication side effects, and attacks classically come on suddenly.
- 02
Gout attacks classically come on suddenly, often at night, and most frequently affect the big toe first before potentially involving other joints over time.
THE BROADER PICTURE
Gout by the numbers
- Approval outlook
- Moderate with rheumatology history.
- Veterans service-connected
- ~3,000 veterans
Vetrify editorial estimates informed by VA published claims data (VBA Annual Benefits Report) and the VA rating schedule, not official VA statistics.
LET’S CLEAR A FEW THINGS UP
Common questions about Gout
Is Gout a VA-rated disability?
Yes. The VA rates Gout under VASRD diagnostic code 5017 (Musculoskeletal System). Gout is a crystalline arthritis in which uric acid crystals deposit in joints, causing sudden, intensely painful attacks — classically in the big toe — and, over time, joint damage. VA rates it under DC 5017 on limitation of motion of the joints it affects.
What VA disability rating can I get for Gout?
This guide lists these VA ratings for Gout: 10%, 0%; its evaluation is set through another part of the schedule, so check the criteria with the regulation. Examples: 10%: Where limitation of motion of an affected joint is objectively confirmed but noncompensable under that joint's own diagnostic code, "a rating of 10 pct is for application for each such major joint or group of minor joints affected by limitation of motion, to be combined, not added." Limitation of motion "must be objectively confirmed by findings such as swelling, muscle spasm, or satisfactory evidence of painful motion" (DC 5003); 0%: [38 CFR 4.31] Where no affected joint shows compensable or objectively confirmed limitation of motion, a zero percent evaluation is assigned.
What evidence helps prove Gout for VA disability?
Strong evidence for a Gout claim includes: Rheumatology treatment history documenting the diagnosis and its management; Uric acid bloodwork tracking levels over time; A rheumatologist's diagnosis confirming gout; Synovial fluid analysis showing urate crystals, the definitive diagnostic test.
What mistakes should veterans avoid when claiming Gout?
Common pitfalls when filing for Gout: Building the claim around flare frequency. VA removed gout from the exacerbation-frequency ladder on February 7, 2021; DC 5002 is now titled "Multi-joint arthritis (except post-traumatic and gout)" and DC 5009 "Other specified forms of arthropathy (excluding gout)"; Filing without any range-of-motion findings, which leaves the only rating criterion the code uses undocumented; Not claiming every joint involved, since each one can carry its own evaluation.
What conditions can be secondary to Gout?
Conditions that can be service-connected as secondary to Gout, when a medical opinion links them, include: Kidney Stones; Ankle or Knee Arthritis. A secondary condition gets its own rating, which VA combines with the veteran's other ratings under 38 CFR 4.25.
Official sources
- 38 CFR § 4.71a, Schedule of ratings, musculoskeletal system (Diagnostic Code 5017)
- 38 CFR § 4.40, functional loss
- 38 CFR § 4.45, the joints
- 38 CFR § 4.59, painful motion
Criteria in quotation marks are the regulation’s own words; everything else on this page is Vetrify’s summary of it. The eCFR text is authoritative. See how Vetrify derives its numbers.
How these figures are checked: our methodology and the open dataset.
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