Abstract

MEDINA FONT, J.  and  ALONSO RODRIGUEZ, C.. Association between serum uric acid levels and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in airline pilots. Sanid. Mil. [online]. 2012, vol.68, n.4, pp.211-215. ISSN 1887-8571.

Introduction: The increase in the uric acid serum levels and the metabolic syndrome are conditions independently related to cardiovascular disease. Objective: To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and the levels of serum uric acid in a population of airline pilots and to establish possible relationships between levels of uric acid and the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome. Methods: We studied a population of 402 male airline pilots. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was established according the definition ofNational Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III. The serum uric acid was considered elevated when higher than 7 mg/dl. Results: We found that 18.7 % of pilots presented elevated levels of serum uric acid and 7.2 % had metabolic syndrome. The pilots with increased levels of serum uric acid had 5.4 higher risk (prevalence's ratio) of having metabolic syndrome than those pilots with normal uric acid, (95% confidence interval between 2.7 and 10.7 with a statistical significance of p<0.001). Subjects with metabolic syndrome presented a mean levels of serum uric acid 1.1 mg/dl (IC95%: 0,7 a 1,5 mg/dl) higher than those pilots without the syndrome (p<0.001). Conclusions: Our results show that pilots with uric acid level elevated have a prevalence of metabolic syndrome 5.4 times higher than those with normal level of uric acid, and that there is a positive lineal correlation between the increasing concentrations of serum uric acid and the number of metabolic syndrome diagnostic criteria.

Keywords : Airline pilots; Uric acid; Metabolic syndrome.

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