Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study subjects according to SUA levels (μmol/L)
| Women | Men | |||||||
| <360 n=968 |
360–419 n=255 |
≥420 n=181 |
P value* | <360 n=508 |
360–419 n=345 |
≥420 n=416 |
P value* | |
| Demographics | ||||||||
| Age, years, n (%) | 0.001 | 0.024 | ||||||
| 52–57 | 345 (36) | 87 (34) | 43 (24) | 177 (35) | 85 (25) | 121 (29) | ||
| 62–67 | 345 (36) | 89 (35) | 66 (36) | 179 (35) | 148 (43) | 147 (35) | ||
| 72–77 | 278 (29) | 79 (31) | 72 (40) | 152 (30) | 112 (32) | 148 (36) | ||
| Education years, mean (SD) | 9.7 (3.3) | 9.4 (3.4) | 8.7 (2.9) | <0.001 | 9.4 (3.4) | 9.3 (3.3) | 9.6 (3.4) | 0.30 |
| Retired, n (%) | 591 (61) | 160 (63) | 129 (71) | 0.015 | 311 (61) | 230 (67) | 282 (68) | 0.082 |
| Cohabiting, n (%) | 617 (64) | 154 (60) | 103 (57) | 0.062 | 423 (83) | 280 (81) | 326 (78) | 0.059 |
| Health behaviours | ||||||||
| Current smokers, n (%) | 113 (12) | 31 (12) | 23 (13) | 0.68 | 127 (25) | 73 (21) | 71 (17) | 0.003 |
| AUDIT score C8, n (%) | 2.2 (1.9) | 2.4 (2.1) | 2.5 (2.3) | 0.30 | 4.0 (2.6) | 4.5 (2.5) | 4.5 (2.8) | 0.009 |
| LTPA, n (%) | <0.001 | 0.060 | ||||||
| Low | 192 (20) | 51 (20) | 60 (33) | 144 (29) | 88 (26) | 129 (32) | ||
| Moderate | 407 (43) | 114 (46) | 71 (39) | 198 (40) | 138 (40) | 178 (44) | ||
| High | 353 (37) | 84 (34) | 49 (27) | 157 (31) | 116 (34) | 98 (24) | ||
| Clinical | ||||||||
| Body mass index | 27.1 (4.6) | 29.6 (4.7) | 31.5 (5.9) | <0.001 | 26.5 (3.7) | 27.5 (3.5) | 29.0 (4.3) | <0.001 |
| Waist | 89.1 (12.3) | 95.7 (12.1) | 100.7 (12.4) | <0.001 | 96.6 (10.5) | 99.7 (9.6) | 103.9 (11.3) | <0.001 |
| Fasting glucose (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 5.46 (1.20) | 5.63 (1.17) | 5.99 (1.25) | <0.001 | 5.94 (1.66) | 5.84 (0.98) | 6.10 (1.42) | <0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 5.88 (1.03) | 5.90 (1.04) | 5.88 (1.20) | 0.92 | 5.63 (1.11) | 5.58 (1.07) | 5.65 (1.16) | 0.79 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 1.70 (0.46) | 1.55 (0.41) | 1.46 (0.41) | <0.001 | 1.42 (0.39) | 1.36 (0.35) | 1.30 (0.36) | <0.001 |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 3.57 (0.93) | 3.57 (0.95) | 3.53 (1.05) | 0.70 | 3.58 (0.97) | 3.53 (0.96) | 3.52 (1.03) | 0.34 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 1.33 (0.63) | 1.69 (0.84) | 1.95 (1.14) | <0.001 | 1.40 (0.75) | 1.54 (0.81) | 1.93 (1.83) | <0.001 |
| hsCRP | 2.39 (4.77) | 2.99 (3.23) | 4.06 (4.94) | <0.001 | 3.03 (6.91) | 2.28 (3.30) | 3.40 (6.03) | <0.001 |
| Blood pressure, mean (SD) | ||||||||
| Systolic | 145 (20) | 146 (19) | 150 (19) | 0.002 | 145 (19) | 145 (18) | 149 (19) | 0.003 |
| Diastolic | 84 (9) | 86 (9) | 86 (9) | 0.001 | 87 (10) | 88 (10) | 88 (10) | 0.031 |
| Comorbidities | ||||||||
| DM | 45 (5) | 16 (6) | 16 (9) | 0.019 | 45 (9) | 26 (8) | 42 (10) | 0.55 |
| Hypertension | 302 (31) | 103 (40) | 97 (54) | <0.001 | 118 (23) | 119 (34) | 179 (43) | <0.001 |
| CVD | 60 (6) | 20 (8) | 19 (10) | 0.033 | 48 (9) | 45 (13) | 67 (16) | 0.002 |
| Respiratory diseases | 87 (9) | 17 (7) | 21 (12) | 0.59 | 21 (4) | 19 (6) | 35 (8) | 0.007 |
| Mental health disorders | 66 (7) | 15 (6) | 6 (3) | 0.080 | 23 (5) | 16 (5) | 17 (4) | 0.76 |
| Cancer | 34 (4) | 13 (5) | 6 (3) | 0.74 | 27 (5) | 14 (4) | 19 (5) | 0.57 |
| Neurological disorders | 39 (4) | 7 (3) | 7 (4) | 0.65 | 24 (5) | 22 (6) | 28 (7) | 0.19 |
| Musculoskeletal disorders | 360 (37) | 102 (40) | 68 (38) | 0.69 | 153 (30) | 104 (30) | 151 (36) | 0.051 |
| Medication | ||||||||
| Urate lowering† | 21 (2) | 10 (4) | 26 (14) | <0.001 | 16 (3) | 17 (5) | 102 (25) | <0.001 |
| Antidiabetic‡ | 35 (4) | 12 (5) | 13 (7) | 0.031 | 37 (7) | 22 (6) | 32 (8) | 0.84 |
| Antihypertensive‡ | 241 (25) | 95 (37) | 97 (54) | <0.001 | 100 (20) | 104 (30) | 159 (38) | <0.001 |
| CVD‡ | 100 (10) | 31 (12) | 40 (22) | <0.001 | 59 (12) | 59 (17) | 95 (23) | <0.001 |
| Lipid lowering‡ | 126 (13) | 44 (17) | 27 (15) | 0.22 | 60 (12) | 77 (22) | 94 (23) | <0.001 |
| Psychiatric‡ | 56 (6) | 11 (4) | 4 (2) | 0.036 | 16 (3) | 8 (2) | 9 (2) | 0.34 |
*P for linearity
†Number of patients with a history of a urate-lowering drug purchase in the active follow-up period of the study (years 2002–2012).
‡Number of patients who used medication at baseline.
AUDIT, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DM, diabetes mellitus; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; LTPA, leisure-time physical activity, graded as low (exercise less than once a week), moderate (from one to two times a week) or high (at least three times a week); SUA, serum uric acid.