Effectiveness of Health Guidance Focusing on Self-care for Subjects with Hyperuricemia

Abstract

Objective: In specific health guidance program, supports which motivate people themselves to make behavior modifications are required. However, it is still not clear whether such health guidance focusing on self-care is effective in improving lifestyle habits or laboratory tests. Lifestyle guidance is used as a first choice strategy for people with hyperuricemia. We therefore compared changes in lifestyle habits and laboratory data in individuals with hyperuricemia between both for those who underwent special health guidance and those who did not.
Methods: Among the employees of a certain company who underwent health check-ups from 2000-2007, we focused on those considered to require lifestyle guidance due to hyperuricemia (determined on the basis of a uric acid level of 7.0-8.9 mg/dL without complications and 7.0-7.9 mg/dL with any complications). Lifestyle habits and laboratory data after a year of those who had received the health guidance were compared with those who had not .
Results: Among 272 males with hyperuricemia, 91 received the health guidance (guidance group). After a year, uric acid levels had returned to normal in 118 people and a significantly high percentage of them were from the guidance group. While the uric acid level decrease both in the guidance and in no guidance groups, the degree of the decrease was significantly greater in the guidance group. There was no difference between the guidance and no guidance groups as regards improvement rates in smoking and exercise habits. However, in the guidance group, the rate of drinking alcohol every day dropped off greater, and tendency for γ-GTP to increase was slight.
Conclusion: The results suggest that health guidance focusing on self-care conducted at this company was effective in improving hyperuricemia.