Hyperuricemia Is Associated with a Higher Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Military Individuals

Abstract

Introduction: Hyperuricemia (HUA) is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the general population. Military individuals who perform high-intensity physical training might have lower rates of MetS. The present study aimed to investigate whether HUA might be associated with the prevalence of MetS in military individuals. Material and Methods: We retrospectively collected data from the annual military exam and randomly selected a single unit to represent the overall study population. The study population consisted of 460 military individuals between January 2016 and December 2016. We divided this cohort into the HUA group and the normouricemic group. Hyperuricemia is defined as a serum uric acid level of 7 mg/dL or more in men or 6 mg/dL or more in women. Results: The cohort consisted of 460 individuals with a mean age of 35.9 yr old; 80% were male and 15% were diagnosed with MetS between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. The prevalence of MetS was greater in the HUA group than in the normouricemic group (32.5% vs. 8.8%, p < 0.001). HUA was independently associated with the prevalent MetS after adjusting for age, gender, creatinine, alanine transaminase, and hemoglobin (adjusted OR: 4.305, 95% CI: 2.370-7.818, p < 0.001). Given that the cohort was predominantly male, we divided the cohort into men and women for a subgroup analysis. A significant association was found in men but not in women (adjusted OR: 3.59 95% CI: 1.905-6.765, p < 0.001 for men and adjusted OR: 16.7 95% CI: 0.295-946, p = 0.172 for women, respectively). Conclusion: Hyperuricemia was independently associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a military cohort from Taiwan. Future studies should look at whether hyperuricemia in individuals without metabolic syndrome can predict the future onset of metabolic syndrome.