Factor analysis of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adult Taiwanese

Abstract

To assess the clustering of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors among Taiwanese adults, we evaluated 579 healthy participants who underwent health examinations between May and December 2007. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine risk factor clustering. Smoking, alcohol intake, exercise habits, body mass index, waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose, uric acid, serum hepatic enzymes, and mean arterial pressure were assessed. Separate factor analyses assessed total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Principal components analysis identified five factors for a model without low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and four factors for a model without total cholesterol. Four common factors in both models explained between 51.1 and 51.8% of variance in the original 14 factors. Metabolic factors, hematological factors (white blood cells and platelets), lifestyle factors (smoking and alcohol consumption), and exercise habits and fasting blood glucose explained about 20, 11, 10, 10% of total variance, respectively. In the model without low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol factor explained 8.83% of variance. This study confirmed clustering of established metabolic syndrome components and revealed additional associated cardiovascular disease risk factors, including lifestyle factors, exercise and total cholesterol, which should be targeted in prevention efforts.

Clustering of four major lifestyle risk factors among Korean adults with metabolic syndrome

“…Most previous studies on clustering of risk factors have examined the clustering of metabolic risk factors [18–25] and not lifestyle risk factors.…”

Usefulness of combining serum uric acid and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein for risk stratification of patients with metabolic syndrome in community-dwelling women

“…The underlying mechanism behind this relationship is unclear, but seems to be independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as age, current smoking status, and alcohol consumption. For community-dwelling healthy women, prospective population-based studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms underlying this association to determine whether intervention, such as effective lifestyle modifications or medication (e.g., antihypertensive, antilipidemic, and diabetic medication) that decrease UA and hsCRP in adults [31], will decrease the risk of MetS.…”

Identification of Cardiovascular Risk Components in Urban Chinese with Metabolic Syndrome and Application to Coronary Heart Disease Prediction: A Longitudinal Study

“…However, the structure and inclusion of MetS components are inconclusive [10]. Some studies found three or four factors, underlying the overall correlation between metabolic variables [11,12], while in recent years, some researchers verified a single-factor model that can represent MetS [13,14]. The different patterns of MetS components resulted from differences in data availability, the number of biomarkers incorporated into specific models, and studies with specific purposes.…”