Prevalence and risk factors of hyperuricemia among patients with schizophrenia in a public psychiatric hospital in China

Objective Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a prevalent disease, which is associated with metabolic syndrome. It is well known that patients with schizophrenia have a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome. However, there are few studies on the HUA in patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HUA and its associated risk factors in adult patients with schizophrenia. Methods A total of 1785 inpatients with schizophrenia ≥ 18 years were included in this retrospective study. HUA was defined as a serum uric acid > 420µmol/L in males and > 360µmol/L in females, or the self-reported diagnosis of HUA. Stepwise binary logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the associated risk factors for HUA in patients with schizophrenia. Results The prevalence of HUA was 42.5% with a significant gender difference (males: 45.2% versus females: 38.9%). Compared to patients without HUA, patients with HUA were younger, had a higher prevalence of hypertension, had a higher body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and had a lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). Age, duration of schizophrenia, male gender, hypertension, BMI, TC, TG, LDL, and HDL were correlated with uric acid. Binary logistic regression analysis suggested that younger age, hypertension, BMI, TC, TG and LDL were the associated risk factors for HUA. Conclusion This study suggested that schizophrenia patients had a high prevalence of HUA in a Chinese psychiatric hospital. Younger age, hypertension, BMI, TC, TG and LDL were associated risk factors for HUA in patients with schizophrenia.