High serum uric acid levels are associated with worse cognitive performance: A cross-sectional study

(1) Background The association between raised serum uric acid and cognitive dysfunction remains a debated issue. In the present study, we investigated whether serum uric acid is associated with cognitive performance in a cohort of healthy individuals in Qatar; (2) Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study on a cohort of individuals aged 40 to 80 years old, without a diagnosis of dementia, schizophrenia, and stroke, who participated in Qatar Biobank. Cognitive performance was assessed using the CANTAB’s paired episodic memory test and reaction time test. The participants were divided into two groups, one group with a normal serum uric acid level (350 μmol/l). Two multivariable linear regression models were applied to determine the association between serum uric acid and memory test performance score and between serum uric acid and reaction time test performance score; (3) Results A total of 996 individuals with median age 48.0 years, IQR: (44.5, 54.0), of which 48.2% were male, were included. After adjusted multivariable linear regression, high serum uric acid levels were strongly associated with poor performance in the paired episodic memory test (beta -6.25, 95%CI - 10.65 to -1.84, p= 0.006). However, after adjusted multivariable linear regression, we found no significant association between high serum uric acid and performance in the reaction time test (beta - 13.24, 95%CI -138.77 to 112.29, p= 0.836,); (4) Conclusions In a cohort of healthy individuals in Qatar, high serum uric acid levels are associated with worse performance in visual memory and new learning domains of cognitive function but no significant effect on processing speed function.