Dose-response relationships of tea and coffee consumption with gout: a prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank

Objectives The association of tea or coffee consumption with gout is inconsistently reported. Few prospective studies have explored their dose-response relationship. Therefore, we aimed to quantitatively investigate the association between tea, coffee and the risk of developing gout. Methods The study included 447 658 participants in the UK Biobank who were initially free of gout. Tea and coffee consumption were assessed at baseline. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the associations between tea/coffee consumption and incident gout, with restricted cubic spline added to the Cox models to evaluate the dose-response relationships. Results During a median follow-up period of 13.42 years, we recorded 3,053 gout cases. The associations between tea, coffee and gout were nonlinear, with a significant reduction in the risk by similar to six cups/day of tea and three cups/day of coffee. Compared with those who were not tea and coffee drinkers, those who consumed >6 cups/day of tea or coffee were associated with 23% (HR 0.77, 95% CI, 0.66, 0.91) and 40% (HR 0.60, 95% CI, 0.47, 0.77) lower risks of gout, respectively, and both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption were associated with a decreased risk. Moreover, hyperuricaemia may modify the association between coffee and gout. Compared with non-coffee consumers with hyperuricaemia, those with >= 4 cups/day coffee intake without hyperuricaemia had the lowest risk (HR 0.34, 95% CI, 0.28, 0.41). Conclusion Consumption of tea or coffee had a strong nonlinear association in gout risk reduction. Hyperuricaemia status had a potential effect modification on the association of coffee intake with gout.