ABSTRACT

Background: While hyperuricaemia and overweight/obesity can act alone to increase the prevalence of hypertension, few studies have examined their combined effect.

Methods: This cross-sectional study of 42 332 Han Chinese from southwestern China investigated the combined effect of hyperuricaemia and overweight/obesity on risk of hypertension in the entire sample as well as in different genders and age groups.

Results: Hypertension was significantly more prevalent among individuals with both hyperuricaemia and overweight/obesity (45.5%) than among those with hyperuricaemia alone (28.1%) or overweight/obesity alone (31.3%). Similarly, the increase in hypertension risk in the presence of both hyperuricaemia and overweight/obesity (OR = 6.777, 95%CI 6.133, 7.489) was significantly greater than the increase in the presence of hyperuricaemia alone (OR = 3.168, 95%CI 2.705, 3.711) or overweight/obesity alone (OR = 3.693, 95% CI 3.503, 3.893). These results were similar across each age group. The same trend was also observed when comparing men and women, though the odds ratios were greater for women.

Conclusion: Co-occurrence of hyperuricaemia and overweight/obesity increases risk of hypertension more than either morbidity on its own, and this risk differential is significantly greater in women than men. These findings should be confirmed in other ethnic groups and in longitudinal studies.