Few prospective studies have assessed the incidence and determinants of asymptomatic hyperuricemia in free-living populations. The authors' goals in this study were to estimate the incidence of hyperuricemia and quantify the dose-response relations of specific risk factors with hyperuricemia in middle-aged South Korean male workers. The authors followed a cohort of 10,802 hyperuricemia-free men aged 30-59 years, examining them annually or biennially at a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea, from 2002 to 2009. A parametric Cox model and a pooled logistic regression model were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios for incident hyperuricemia (defined as serum uric acid level ≥7.0 mg/dL) according to prespecified risk factors. During 51,210.6 person-years of follow-up, 2,496 men developed hyperuricemia (incidence rate = 48.7 per 1,000 person-years, 95% confidence interval: 46.8, 50.7). The incidence of hyperuricema increased across baseline categories of age, body mass index, alcohol intake, blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, triglycerides, gamma-glutamyltransferase, and fatty liver, whereas fasting glucose, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were inversely associated with incident hyperuricemia. Development of hyperuricemia, a very common outcome among apparently healthy South Korean men, was predicted by a variety of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, suggesting that lifestyle modification may help reduce the incidence of hyperuricemia.

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ObjectivesThis study was conducted to develop a model describing the interaction between lifestyle, job, and postural factors and parts of the upper extremities in shipyard workers.MethodsA questionnaire survey was given to 2,140 workers at a shipyard in Ulsan City. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding the subjects' general characteristics, lifestyle, tenure, physical burden, job control, posture and musculoskeletal symptoms. The overall relationship between variables was analyzed by a structural equation model (SEM).ResultsThe positive rate of upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms increased in employees who worked longer hours, had severe physical burden, and did not have any control over their job. Work with a more frequent unstable posture and for longer hours was also associated with an increased positive rate of musculoskeletal symptoms. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that unstable posture and physical burden were closely related to the positive rate of musculoskeletal symptoms after controlling for age, smoking, drinking, exercise, tenure, and job control. In SEM analysis, work-related musculoskeletal disease was influenced directly and indirectly by physical and job stress factors, lifestyle, age, and tenure (p < 0.05). The strongest correlations were found between physical factors and work-related musculoskeletal disease.ConclusionThe model in this study provides a better approximation of the complexity of the actual relationship between risk factors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Among the variables evaluated in this study, physical factors (work posture) had the strongest association with musculoskeletal disorders.