OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence and risk factors of hyperuricemia in the subjects undergoing routine physical examinations in Guangzhou.

METHODSThis study was conducted among 8302 subjects (5136 male and 3166 female) undergoing routine physical examinations in a hospital in Guangzhou during the period from October 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011. For all the subjects, such indices as body height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, and blood biochemistry were examined, and the body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio were calculated. The risk factors of hyperuricemia were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULTSHyperuricemia was detected in 35.68% of the total subjects, and the detection rates were significantly higher in male than in female subjects (46.83% vs 17.59%, P<0.0001). Unconditional logistic regression analysis showed a significant correlation of hyperuricemia with age, sex, BMI, hypertension, waist-hip ratio, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified BMI, blood pressure, waist-hip ratio, hypertriglyceridemia, LDL, VLDL-C, creatinine, and urea nitrogen as the risk factors for hyperuricemia, and age and gender were negatively correlated with the incidence of hyperuricemia with OR values of 0.991 and 0.660, respectively.

CONCLUSIONHyperuricemia has a high prevalence in the subjects undergoing routine physical examinations in Guangzhou. The risk factors of hyperuricemia include hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and elevations of BMI, waist-hip ratio, LDL, VLDL-C, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Age and gender can be protective factors against hyperuricemia.