High Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Related Demographic Factors in North of Iran: Results from the PERSIAN Guilan Cohort Study
Mohammadreza Naghipour, Farahnaz Joukar, Hossein‐Ali Nikbakht, Soheil Hassanipour, Mehrnaz Asgharnezhad, Morteza Arab‐Zozani, Fariborz Mansour‐Ghanaei
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome has increased in recent decades around the world and is currently reaching epidemic levels as it is a major public health and clinical concern. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its related demographic factors in a population-based study. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the target population consisted of 10520 individuals aged 35-70 years in Phase 1 of the Persian Guilan cohort study (Guilan site/Some'e Sara) that was conducted in 2014-2017. Demographic, anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemical data were used in this study. The IDF definitions were used to diagnose the metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: The prevalence of the syndrome according to IDF and ATP definition was 42.87% (95% CI: 41.92-41.81) and 40.68% (95% CI: 39.74-41.62), respectively. The prevalence of components for central obesity, high triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, blood glucose, and hypertension components was 75.8%, 43.1%, 40.6%, 39.2% and 37.9%, respectively. All demographic variables were related to the syndrome, and among them age, gender, and residence were identified as independent and strong predictive variables in the regression model. More than 92% of the population had at least one component of the syndrome. CONCLUSION: The results of the study show a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome risk factors. It is essential to educate healthy lifestyle behaviors and further health education in the high-risk groups identified in this study, especially the elderly, women, and rural residents.