SERUM URIC ACID IS ASSOCIATED WITH DIETARY AND LIFESTYLE FACTORS IN ELDERLY WOMEN IN SUBURBAN GUANGZHOU IN GUANGDONG PROVINCE OF SOUTH CHINA

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of hyperuricemia and lifestyle risk factors for hyperuricemia in elderly women. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: The suburban area of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. Participants: The study included 856 Chinese women aged 60 to 102 years who received their annual health examinations in the suburban area of Guangzhou, South China in 2002. Measurements: Information on anthropomettic measurements and lifestyle factors were obtained via a questionnaire processed by the attending physicians or nurses. Blood biochemistry was performed after subjects fasted for 8-14 h. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to investigate associations between hyperuricemia, meat intake quintiles, physical activity quintiles, and alcohol intake quintiles. Results: The prevalence of hyperuricemia in the studied population was 12.01%. Alcohol, meat and seafood consumption; being overweight or obese; hypertension; and abnormal triglyceride levels were strongly associated with a higher prevalence of hyperuricemia. Physical activity was inversely related to the prevalence of hyperuricemia. The odds ratios for hyperuricemia for quintiles of physical activity were 1.00, 0.74, 0.72, 0.63, and 0.55 (P<0.01). Conclusions: Our data suggest that the prevalence of hyperuricemia is high in elderly women in suburban Guangzhou in Guangdong province of South China. Obesity, meat and seafood intake and alcohol consumption are associated with a higher prevalence of hyperuricemia, whereas daily physical activity is inversely related to the prevalence of hyperuricemia.