Abstract: Objective To evaluate the diagnostic ability of serum uric acid in identifying metabolic syndrome, and analyze the effects of serum uric acid on metabolic syndrome in Fujian residents. Methods Physical and biomedical data of 6 134 residents randomly selected from 10 counties/districts in Fujian province were collected for the analysis of the screening ability and the influence of serum uric acid on metabolic syndrome. Results The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in male and female populations in Fujian were 19.00% and 12.70%, respectively. The residents consisted with more metabolic syndrome subjects had higher serum uric acid levels.The critical value of serum uric acid for screening metabolic syndrome in the male residents was 412.95 μmol/L, The area under curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive prediction value(PPV), nagative prediction value(NPV) of receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was 0.635,51.02%,59.74%,28.34%and 85.86%, respectively. In the female population, AUC of ROC was 0.674 for SUA above 310.30 μmol/L, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV was 63.33%, 63.04%,19.35%and 92.20%, respectively. After adjustment by age and place of residence the risk of metabolic syndrome in male and female high serum uric acid groups was 2.571(2.116-3.124)and 2.806(2.249-3.502)times higher than those in the low serum uric acid groups. Conclusions Using serum uric acid for diagnosing metabolic syndrome has certain clinical significance and high serum uric acid is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.