Tea Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of Hyperuricemia in an Occupational Population in Guangdong, China

Ruining Li; Lin Zeng; Chengkai Wu; Pengcheng Ma; Hao Cui; Liya Chen; Qimei Li; Chang Hong; Li Liu; Lushan Xiao; Wenyuan Li

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S355253

Tea Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of Hyperuricemia in an Occupational Population in Guangdong, China

Int J Gen Med. 2022 Mar 10:15:2747-2757. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S355253. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ruining Li^#^{1

2}, Lin Zeng^#², Chengkai Wu^#¹, Pengcheng Ma^#³, Hao Cui², Liya Chen⁴, Qimei Li², Chang Hong², Li Liu^{1

2}, Lushan Xiao², Wenyuan Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ Big Data Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Medical Quality Management, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Hospital Office, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Chronic hyperuricemia leads to long-term deposition of monosodium urate crystals that may damage the joint structure and affect quality of life. Although hyperuricemia prevalence varies, most studies indicate increased cases of hyperuricemia worldwide. The relationship between hyperuricemia and tea consumption is uncertain. This cross-sectional study investigated the effect of tea consumption on the risk of hyperuricemia in the working population in Guangdong, China.

Patients and methods: Data on weight, height, blood pressure, laboratory test results, and health questionnaire responses of 7644 adults aged ≥18 years were obtained from the health examinee dataset of Nanfang Hospital. The characteristics of subjects with and without hyperuricemia were compared using t-tests or non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-tests for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables. Relationships between hyperuricemia and participant characteristics (sex, age, education level, smoking history, alcohol consumption, hypertension, body mass index, tea consumption, and other dietary factors) were examined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to identify independent risk factors for hyperuricemia.

Results: Tea consumption was associated with a higher risk of hyperuricemia in the crude model (odds ratio [OR] 1.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.48-2.05, once a month through twice a week vs never, P<0.001; OR 2.44, 95% CI 2.07-2.89, ≥3 times a week vs never, P<0.001). The adjusted OR for hyperuricemia was 1.30 (95% CI 1.08-1.56, P=0.006) in participants who consumed tea once a month through twice a week and 1.35 (95% CI 1.11-1.64, P=0.003) in those who consumed tea ≥3 times a week compared with the "never" reference group after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, anthropometric and biochemical indices, and dietary factors. This relationship remained significant in men but not women in subgroup analysis.

Conclusion: Tea consumption is an independent risk factor for hyperuricemia and is more pronounced in men than women.

Keywords: Chinese working population; hyperuricemia; risk factor; tea consumption.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 81773008, 81972897), Clinical Research Startup Program of Southern Medical University by High-level University Construction Funding of Guangdong Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. LC2019ZD003), Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2019B020227004), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No.2021M701629), and the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (Grant No.202103000037).