Association between Anemia and Hyperuricemia: a Cross-Sectional Study.

Recent epidemiological studies have suggested a potential correlation between anemia and hyperuricemia, yet the relationship within the American population remains unclear. This study intended to explore the potential link between anemia and hyperuricemia in the U.S. adult population. This cross-sectional, population-based research analyzed data from U.S. adults aged 20 and older, collected during the 2011 - 2016 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). By using multivariate logistic regression and controlling for a range of confounding factors, the study explored the link between anemia and hyperuricemia in depth. Additionally, the investigation evaluated the consistency of the association between anemia and hyperuricemia across various demographic subgroups. In this study, we included 12,046 adult participants with an average age of 46.6 ± 16.5 years; among them, 6,111 (50.7%) were female. The study found that 1,063 participants (8.8%) had anemia, while 10,983 participants (91.2%) did not have anemia. Among all participants, 1,963 (16.3%) were diagnosed with hyperuricemia. Compared to the non-anemic group, the prevalence of hyperuricemia was lower in the anemic group, at 13.7% (146 people) for the anemic group and 16.5% (1,817 people) for the non-anemic group. By controlling for various confounding variables including age, gender, race, education level, household income, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, and hypertension, the multivariable logistic regression model analysis revealed a negative correlation between anemia and hyperuricemia (odds ratio [OR] of 0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65 - 0.96). Among women, the inverse association between anemia and hyperuricemia was significantly stronger (OR of 0.7, 95% CI 0.54 - 0.91), whereas no such association was detected in men (OR of 1.27, 95% CI 0.93 - 1.74). This cross-sectional study demonstrated a negative correlation between anemia and hyperuricemia that is evident in women but not in men.