Investigating the relationship between point-of-care uric acid and dietary pattern

Introduction High serum uric acid due to improper dietary intake has been identified to associate with painful gouty attack. This study investigates the relationship between point-of-care testing in uric acid and the dietary pattern among participants attending the 2014 Vegetarian Festival in Hong Kong. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted using questionnaire to collect demographic data and dietary pattern of the participants. Point-of-care analyzer was used to measure their serum uric acid. Data was analyzed by descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Results A total of 94 health seekers participated in the study. A prevalence of high POC-UAs was identified among these participants (14.9% (14/94)); non-vegetarians (18.5% (12/65)) tended to have a higher proportion of high POC-UAs compared to vegetarians (7.1% (2/28)); half of these participants with high POC-UAs had obesity 23.5% (4/17) and 1-3 chronic diseases (53.3% (8/15)). The POC-UAs of those having 1-3 chronic diseases 53.3% (8/15) were also significantly greater than those of a single chronic disease 25.0% (1/4) (Χ²=26.769, p<0.001). Discussion The findings suggested that Point-of-care testing can be an effective predictor of gout risk as most individuals may be unaware of their hyperuricemia condition because of asymptomatic at an early stage. Conclusion For a better control of hyperuricemia and prevention of acute gouty attack, health education with a convenient monitoring using Point-of-care method and dietary intervention is recommended.