October - December 2012, Volume 8, Issue 4

Mihalache L, Graur LI, Popescu DS, Boiculese L, Badiu C, Graur M

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in a rural community

Acta Endo (Buc) 2012, 8 (4): 595-606
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2012.595

Background. The literature contains several definitions of the metabolic syndrome, different from one another through the components included and the reference ranges considered normal. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in a rural community from the North-East region of Romania. Methods. The study included 3248 persons from the rural environment. The data recorded regarded gender, age, anthropometric parameters (weight, waist circumference, body mass index), arterial blood pressure, and laboratory findings. The defining criteria for the metabolic syndrome used were IDF 2005 in comparison with the criteria NCEP-ATP III. Results. Over half of the studied population presents excess body weight, the prevalence of obesity (Body Mass Index - BMI≥30kg/m2) being 17.5% with a proportional relationship between age and BMI value (p<0.001), as well as between age and waist circumference value (p<0.001). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome according to IDF criteria is 16.3% and 14.2% according to NCEP-ATP III criteria. Irrespective of the BMI value, there is an individual increase in the number of cardiovascular risk factors parallel to the increase of the WC. Conclusions. The metabolic syndrome is frequently encountered in the clinical practice and the use of the IDF definition criteria allows a wider identification of the patients with high cardiometabolic risk. This is the group of people that need to be targeted by the diagnostic and treatment of important cardiometabolic pathology.

Keywords: Abdominal obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiometabolic risk.

Correspondence: Laura Mihalache MD, UMF “Gr.T.Popa”, Diabetology, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, Indepedentei Blvd., no 1, Iasi, Iasi, 700005, Romania, E-mail: laura_mvlad@yahoo.com