Serum uric acid and blood pressure among adolescents: data from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) 2010–2011

Figures & data

Table 1. Clinical characteristics of the study participants by the tertiles of serum uric acid, NAHSIT 2010–2011.

Range of UA (mg/dL)	Tertile of UA			Total	p
	≤4.8	4.9–6.3	≥6.4
n	440	476	468	1384
Age (years)	16.1 (1.3)	16.0 (1.4)	16.0 (1.3)	16.0 (1.3)	0.393
Male	38 (8.6%)	215 (45.3%)	430 (91.9%)	683 (49.3%)	<0.001
Height (cm)	159.5 (6.7)	164.2 (7.9)	170.4 (6.9)	164.8 (8.5)	<0.001
Weight (kg)	51.7 (8.7)	57.0 (10.7)	69.3 (15.4)	59.5 (14.0)	<0.001
BMI (kg/m^2)	20.3 (2.9)	21.1 (3.5)	23.9 (5.1)	21.8 (4.3)	<0.001
Obesity	43 (9.8%)	80 (16.8%)	188 (40.3%)	311 (22.5%)	<0.001
Cr (mg/dL)	0.60 (0.11)	0.70 (0.14)	0.80 (0.13)	0.70 (0.15)	<0.001
Systolic BP (mmHg)	98.4 (8.8)	102.8 (10.5)	110.9 (10.7)	104.1 (11.3)	<0.001
Diastolic BP (mmHg)	58.9 (7.4)	59.8 (7.5)	61.0 (8.3)	59.9 (7.8)	<0.001
Man arterial pressure (mmHg)	72.1 (7.1)	74.2 (7.4)	77.6 (8.1)	74.7 (7.9)	<0.001
Pulse pressure (mmHg)	39.4 (7.3)	42.3 (9.2)	49.9 (9.4)	44.2 (9.7)	<0.001
eGFR (mL/min/1.73m^2)	153.6 (24.8)	148.7 (25.8)	150.7 (26.3)	150.9 (25.7)	0.014
ALT (U/L)	11.8 (11.5)	13.2 (7.6)	21.0 (21.9)	15.4 (15.5)	<0.001
Ln ALT	2.4 (0.4)	2.5 (0.4)	2.8 (0.6)	2.6 (0.5)	<0.001
UA (mg/dL)	4.2 (0.7)	5.5 (0.7)	7.4 (1.1)	5.8 (2.1)	<0.001
Glucose (mg/dL)	93.7 (14.5)	94.2 (7.1)	95.9 (6.8)	94.6 (10.0)	0.002
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	163.3 (27.8)	159.3 (27.4)	159.7 (28.6)	160.7 (27.9)	0.066
TG (mg/dL)^a	63 (175)	60.5 (319)	71 (287)	65 (320)
Ln TG	4.2 (0.3)	4.2 (0.4)	4.3 (0.4)	4.2 (0.4)	<0.001
HDL-C (mg/dL)	59.0 (12.3)	55.5 (11.8)	50.4 (11.8)	54.9 (12.5)	<0.001
LDL-C (mg/dL)	90.7 (23.6)	90.1 (23.9)	93.2 (25.7)	91.4 (24.5)	0.116
Family history of hypertension	68 (15.5%)	72 (15.2%)	74 (15.8%)	214 (15.5%)	0.746

UA: uric acid; BMI: body mass index; BP: blood pressure; Cr: creatinine; eGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate by the formula of Schwartz; ALT: alanine aminotransferase: TG: triglyceride; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; family history of hypertension, either father and/or mother has hypertension.

^a Data show the mean (SD) and number (%) for all the variables except triglyceride as median (interquartile range). One-way analysis of variance for continuous variables, mean (SD), and Chi-square tests for categorical variables, number (%).

Figure 1. Prevalence of elevated blood pressure by tertiles of serum concentrations of uric acid among 1384 participants aged 14–19 years, NAHSIT 2010–2011. BP: blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure was defined as systolic or diastolic blood pressure ≥120/80 mmHg.

Figure 2. Serum uric acid levels in study participants with normal blood pressure and elevated blood pressure. BP: blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure was defined as systolic or diastolic blood pressure ≥120/80 mmHg.

Table 2. Association between uric acid and blood pressure among 1384 adolescents aged 14–19 years, NAHSIT 2010–2011.

	Crude			Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
	β	SE	p	β	SE	p	β	SE	p	β	SE	p
SBP	3.58	0.18	<0.001	1.74	0.23	<0.001	0.54	0.24	0.03	0.45	0.25	0.07
DBP	0.62	0.14	<0.001	0.72	0.19	<0.001	0.50	0.21	0.01	0.48	0.22	0.03
MAP	1.61	0.14	<0.001	1.06	0.18	<0.001	0.52	0.20	0.01	0.47	0.20	0.02
PP	2.96	0.16	<0.001	1.02	0.20	<0.001	0.04	0.20	0.86	−0.03	0.22	0.88

Model 1: adjusted for age and sex; Model 2: adjusted for age, sex and body mass index; Model 3: adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, creatinine, glucose, Ln ALT, Ln TG, HDL-C and family history of hypertension.

SE: standard error; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; MAP: mean arterial pressure; PP: pulse pressure.

Table 3. Relative odds of having an elevated blood pressure^a among 1384 adolescents aged 14–19 years, NAHSIT 2010–2011.

	Crude			Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
	OR	95% CI	p	OR	95% CI	p	OR	95% CI	p	OR	95% CI	p
Uric acid tertile^b
1	1.00	Reference		1.00	Reference		1.00	Reference		1.00	Reference
2	5.39	2.24–12.99	<0.001	2.49	0.97–6.40	0.06	2.22	0.87–5.66	0.10	2.37	0.89–6.30	0.08
3	18.91	8.20–43.64	<0.001	5.00	1.92–12.99	0.001	3.15	1.22–8.18	0.02	3.37	1.24–9.16	0.02
Uric acid level ≥5.5 vs <5.5	10.91	5.97–19.94	<0.001	3.84	1.93–7.65	<0.001	2.74	1.37–5.50	0.004	2.85	1.39–5.84	0.004
Per 1-mg/dL increase in uric acid	1.81	1.61–2.05	<0.001	1.39	1.20–1.61	<0.001	1.19	1.10–1.40	0.03	1.19	1.01–1.42	0.04

Model 1: adjusted for age and sex; Model 2: adjusted for age, sex and body mass index; Model 3: adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, creatinine, glucose, Ln ALT, Ln TG, HDL-C and family history of hypertension.

OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.

^aElevated blood pressure was defined as systolic or diastolic blood pressure ≥120/80 mmHg; ^btertile ranges are as follows: 1 (1.9–4.8 mg/dL), 2 (4.9–6.3 mg/dL) and 3 (6.4–11.9 mg/dL).