The effect of the interaction between obesity and drinking on hyperuricemia in Japanese male office workers.

BACKGROUND: Obesity and drinking are acknowledged risk factors for hyperuricemia. However, the effect of the interaction between obesity and drinking on hyperuricemia is not well understood.

METHODS: The cases comprised 3028 male office workers with hyperuricemia (serum uric acid level >or=7.0 mg/dL); the controls were 5348 men with a serum uric acid level less than 6.0 mg/dL. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess risk factors for hyperuricemia and the interaction between obesity and drinking in hyperuricemia. Participants were divided into 2 groups according to their BMI: individuals with a BMI of 25 or higher were classified as obese and those with a BMI less than 25 were classified as non-obese. In addition, participants were divided into 5 groups based upon their ethanol consumption. The 2 variables were then combined to create 10 groups.

RESULTS: With non-obese non-drinkers as the reference category, the odds ratio for hyperuricemia was 1.80 for non-obese drinkers of less than 25 mL/day of ethanol, 2.15 for non-obese drinkers of 25-49 mL/day, 2.60 for non-obese drinkers of 50-74 mL/day, 2.56 for non-obese drinkers of 75+ mL/day, 4.40 for obese non-drinkers, 5.74 for obese drinkers of less than 25 mL/day, 6.57 for obese drinkers of 25-49 mL/day, 5.55 for obese drinkers of 50-74 mL/day, and 7.77 for obese drinkers of 75+ mL/day. The interaction between obesity and drinking in hyperuricemia was statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that although combining the effects of obesity and drinking did not result in a multiplicative increase in the risk for hyperuricemia, the combined risk was greater than the sum of the effects of obesity and drinking.