Correlation between abdominal obesity and hyperuricaemia in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A case–control study

Background

Obesity is associated with hyperuricaemia in the general population; however, that relationship has not been studied in detail in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), nor has the possibility of sex differences in that relationship been investigated.

Methods

A retrospective case–control study was conducted. We explored the correlation between abdominal obesity and hyperuricaemia among 315 Chinese patients with T2DM aged 27–64 years who had received community health services between January 2021 and August 2022. Abdominal obesity was defined as a waist circumference ≥ 85.0 cm in females and ≥ 90.0 cm in males. Hyperuricaemia was defined as a serum uric acid level > 7.0 mg/dL in males and postmenopausal females, > 6.0 mg/dL in premenopausal females, or receiving medical treatment for hyperuricaemia. The male and female groups were each separately divided into two additional groups: those with abdominal obesity and those without abdominal obesity. Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of hyperuricaemia were calculated using a logistic regression model.

Results

The prevalence of hyperuricaemia in male and female patients in the study area was 42.86 % and 28.00 %, respectively. Abdominal obesity (OR = 3.369, 95 % CI = 1.031–11.009, P value <0.05) was the determinant variable for hyperuricaemia among male patients with T2DM but not among female patients. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of hyperuricaemia between male or female T2DM patients with different body mass index (BMI) levels.

Conclusions

Our study revealed that abdominal obesity, but not overall obesity, was associated with an increased risk of hyperuricaemia in male patients with T2DM. Neither abdominal obesity nor overall obesity was associated with an increased risk of hyperuricaemia in female patients with T2DM. Abdominal obesity is a more effective predictor of hyperuricaemia than overall obesity is in male patients with T2DM.