High serum uric acid level is associated with greater handgrip strength in the aged population

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the association of serum UA level with muscle strength assessed by handgrip strength (HGS) in a large Korean adult population. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were obtained from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2016. The KNHANES 2016 study included 8150 subjects, of whom 4230 subjects were analyzed in this study. The association between serum UA level and HGS was investigated with adjustment for confounding factors. RESULTS: Serum UA was divided into sex-specific tertiles After adjustment for potential confounding factors, HGS was significantly greater in the high serum UA group (the third tertile) than in the low UA group (the first tertile) in the elderly (age ≥ 60 years) population (coefficient β [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.017 [0.115–1.920]). When the elderly population was subdivided according to the presence of metabolic syndrome (metS), the impact of UA remained significant only in individuals with metS. In the aged population, high serum UA level reduced the risk for low HGS (OR, 95% CI = 0.69, 0.48–0.98, p = 0.041) only in male subjects. CONCLUSIONS: A population-based cross-sectional survey in Korea revealed that high serum UA level is associated with increased HGS in the aged population. The antioxidant property of UA may enhance muscle strength, especially in the elderly population. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13075-019-1858-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.