Prevalence of hyperuricemia among Beijing post-menopausal women in 10 years

• We explored changes in prevalence of hyperuricemia as well as uric acid levels among Beijing community-based postmenopausal women over a ten years period. Two diagnostic criteria of hyperuricemia were used in this research.
• Over the ten year period there was a markedly increased prevalence of hyperuricemia as well as uric acid levels in this population.
• Traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension, dyslipidemia and obesity were related to hyperuricemia, whereas diabetes was not associated with hyperuricemia. With the increasing number of the factors, the risk for hyperuricemia rose significantly.

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to explore the trend and risk factors of the prevalence of hyperuricemia among post-menopausal women in Beijing over a ten years period.MethodThis research was based on two cross-sectional surveys in post-menopausal women in Beijing. A total of 1881 post-menopausal women were included. Subjects answered a questionnaire and underwent a physical examination and blood test. Serum uric acid >357 μmol/L was diagnosed as hyperuricemia, and another diagnosis criterion (serum uric acid >416 μmol/L) was applied in these women.ResultsSerum uric acid levels and hyperuricemia prevalence increased remarkably in the 10-year period. The prevalence of hyperuricemia increased more than 2-fold after being adjusted by age. Multivariate logistic regression models revealed hyperuricemia associated with age, education level, urban residents, alcohol consumption, hypertension, obesity, and dyslipidemia. With the increasing number of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (including hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia), the risk of hyperuricemia increased significantly, and the accumulative effect of the factors on the risk of hyperuricemia was determined.ConclusionThe prevalence of hyperuricemia was high and exhibited a remarkable, increasing trend in Beijing community-based, post-menopausal women. Better management of relative factors could help to prevent further increases in the burden of hyperuricemia in post-menopausal women in this region.