The Association between Serum Uric Acid Level and Dementia in Geriatric Population – A Case–Control Study

ABSTRACT

Importance The increasing prevalence of dementia worldwide has reduced the quality of life in geriatric patients, therebyincreasing the burden on the caregivers. As dementia evolves gradually, diagnosis of the disease is often delayed. Thus, theneed for a sensitive biomarker for early diagnosis is instrumental.Objective: The objective of the study was to study the association between serum uric acid levels and dementia in geriatric patients.Design: This is a case–control study comparing the age-matched geriatric patients with and without dementia (cases – 50and controls – 50).Setting and Participants: A total of 100 geriatric patients from Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital wereincluded in this study for a study period of 4 months. Out of this, 50 were cases (with dementia) and 50 were controls (withoutdementia). Mini-mental state examination test was done to categorize the cases into mild, moderate, and severe subgroups(24–30 out of 30 as normal; 20–23 out of 30 as mild; 10–19 out of 30 as moderate; and score lesser than 10 out of 30 as severe).Serum uric acid levels were measured in the study population and compared between the cases and controls.Results: The correlation of serum uric acid levels with cases and controls revealed 16% of the cases had hypouricemia,whereas none in the control group had hypouricemia. When serum uric acid levels were compared, it was found that 44% ofthe control group had normal serum uric acid levels and 82% of the cases had normal serum uric acid levels. Based on minimental state examination score, 10% of mild group and 21% of moderate group had hypouricemia and 4% of moderate grouphad hyperuricemia while the others had normal serum uric acid levels. All the data were statistically significant with “P” < 0.001.Conclusion: The study identified the prevalence of hypouricemia in the study population. This study can pave the path forfurther multicentric research to delineate the role of uric acid level as potential biomarker for dementia.Relevance The information gained from this study will enable us to diagnose dementia in the early stages and improve thequality of life of the patients.