Abstract
Background: Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a tremendous health problem worldwide. Data on the trends of HUA prevalence in China is limited. Therefore, we assessed this trend among the urban and rural Chinese populations of the southeast coastal region during 2014-2018. Methods: This hospital-based retrospective study lasted 5 years. Data on physical measures and fasting blood parameters from 210,825 health checkup subjects from urban and rural tertiary hospitals during 2014-2018 were extracted to investigate the trends of serum uric acid (SUA) levels and HUA prevalence and to compare them between urban and rural areas, stratified by year, age, and sex. Results: Both SUA (395.49±102.29 μmol/L) levels and HUA prevalence (37.87%) were high in this population. Mean SUA levels among urban subjects increased from 382.54±91.17 μmol/L in 2014 to 407.38±103.97 μmol/L in 2018, and from 367.75±90.76 μmol/L to 398.42±104.6 μmol/L in rural subjects. Similarly, urban HUA prevalence increased from 32.87% to 42.41%, and rural from 27.81% to 38.81%. Both SUA levels and HUA prevalence were higher in urban than in rural areas (397.59±103.01 μmol/L vs 388.03±99.34 μmol/L and 38.70% vs 34.89%, respectively, P<0.01) and higher in men than women (437.87±93.98 μmol/L vs 338.21±83.43 μmol/L and 54.78% vs 15.00%, respectively, P<0.01). Both SUA levels (P<0.01) and HUA prevalence (P<0.01) increased with advancing age in urban areas, while seemingly decreasing and remaining stable after the age of 50 years in rural areas. Although both SUA levels (P<0.001) and HUA prevalence (P<0.001) showed a downward trend in men and an upward trend in women after age 40 in both areas, men had greater disease burden than women. Conclusions: This is the first investigation of SUA levels and HUA prevalence trends among the urban and rural Chinese population of the southeast coastal region. Increases in both SUA levels and HUA prevalence were observed in both areas during 2014-2018. Although there was a downward trend in men and an upward trend in women of the SUA levels and the HUA prevalence, men had higher disease burden. Attention should be paid and effective measures should be taken to lower the HUA prevalence for men in this population. Keywords: Serum uric acid, Hyperuricemia, Prevalence, Trends
Peer Review #2 of "The impact of serum uric acid on the natural history of glomerular filtration rate: a retrospective study in the general population (v0.1)"
