title: Low sensitivity for the metabolic syndrome to detect uric acid elevations in females and non-Hispanic-black male adolescents: an analysis of NHANES 1999-2006.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Uric acid is tightly linked to the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and among adults higher uric acid levels are associated with future risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and renal disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Evaluate the sensitivity of MetS to identify adolescents with elevated uric acid levels on a race/ethnicity and gender-specific basis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 3296 male and female adolescents 12-19 y participating in the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey 1999-06, comprised of 67.6% non-Hispanic whites, 15.1% non-Hispanic blacks, and 17.3% Hispanics. We used a definition of MetS modified for use in adolescents and evaluated the sensitivity of a diagnosis of MetS to identify individuals with uric acid elevations (approximately the 95th percentile of uric acid by gender among normal-weight adolescents).
  
  
  RESULTS
  When used as a screening test to identify individuals with uric acid elevations MetS performed more poorly among females (18.0%) than among males (37.0%) (p<0.001). Among males, MetS exhibited a lower sensitivity among non-Hispanic blacks (17.8%) compared to Hispanics (45.9%) (p<0.01) and non-Hispanic whites (37.4%) (p<0.05). There were no race/ethnicity differences in detecting elevated uric acid levels among females (non-Hispanic-white 15.5%, non-Hispanic-black 19.4%, Hispanic 26.5%, p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current criteria to diagnose MetS exhibit racial/ethnic and gender differences in the ability to identify adolescents with elevated uric acid levels, performing poorly among non-Hispanic-black males and among females. Given emerging data regarding the ability of uric acid elevations for predicting future disease, these data may have implications regarding the use of MetS as a marker of risk among all gender and racial/ethnic groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, United States. deboer@virginia.edu
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: DeBoer
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gurka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033461:Hyperuricemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014503:Urate Oxidase / Q000097:blood*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014503:Urate Oxidase