Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome and Its Association with Cardiovascular Diseases in Korea

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate nationwide prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and to identify its association with cardiovascular diseases. The data on a national representative sample of 6,147 adults from 1998 Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey were analyzed. The syndrome was determined according to two kinds of modified definition from ATP III, in which abdominal obesity was determined by waist circumference (WC) standard for Asians and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Based on the former, prevalence was 22.1% in men and 27.8% in women. However, based on the latter, prevalence was 28.6% and 27.8%, respectively. Although age-specific prevalence was higher in men than in women among the younger group, it became higher in women among the older group because of its steeper rise with age. In multiple logistic regression, the syndrome was found to be positively associated with cardiovascular diseases (adjusted odds ratios (ORs)1.97 by WC and 1.48 by WHR in men, and 1.54 and 1.31 in women). Moreover, its effect size exceeded that of total cholesterol (adjusted ORs 1.21 in men, and 1.08 in women) or LDL cholesterol (1.58 in men and 1.22 in women). It is obvious that the metabolic syndrome prevails in Korea, and its importance regarding cardiovascular diseases is considerable. Prevention strategies should be implemented immediately to avoid cardiovascular epidemic in the near future.

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among Korean adults using the new International Diabetes Federation definition and the new abdominal obesity criteria for the Korean people

“…However, the comparison with other studies should be made with caution. Instead of using the original NCEP waist circumference criteria (!102 cm for men, and !88 cm for women), our study applied the modified WHO criteria (!90 cm for Asian men and !80 cm for Asian women) as in other Korean studies [5][6][7][8][9][10], and compared it with the KSSO criteria (!90 cm for Korean men and !85 cm for Korean women). Since the ethnic-specific KSSO criteria of Korean women was stricter than the modified WHO criteria, the prevalence of the IDF-defined metabolic syndrome was lower than that of the NCEP-defined metabolic syndrome, in contrast to other studies in which the ethnic-specific criteria of the waist circumference were less strict.…”

“…However, Asians may have a different fat distribution and a high level of abdominal obesity at a lower body mass index, compared with Western populations [3]. Therefore, the WHO has suggested a www.elsevier.com/locate/diabres Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice 77 (2007) [99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] waist circumference for Asians !90 cm for men and !80 cm for women as interim thresholds of abdominal obesity in 2000 [4], and a majority of Korean studies on the metabolic syndrome have used these modified criteria [5][6][7][8][9][10]. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) recently proposed that central obesity is a prerequisite risk factor for diagnosing the metabolic syndrome, and should be defined using an ethnicityspecific value of waist circumference [11].…”

Prevalência de síndrome metabólica e seus componentes na transição menopáusica: uma revisão sistemática

“…Alguns estudos demonstram que a prevalência de síndrome metabólica aumentou com a idade em ambos os sexos 6,7 . No entanto, entre 20 e 50 anos de idade, os homens apresentam uma maior prevalência de síndrome metabólica; a partir dos 50 anos, a prevalência torna-se maior entre as mulheres.…”

Effects of Web-based Health Education on Blood Glucose and Blood Pressure Improvement in Postmenopausal Women with Impaired Fasting Blood Glucose

“…이상의 여성에서 대사증후군 유병률을 조사한 국민건강영양자료 의 결과에서도 50% 이상으로 보고하였다 (Kim, Kim, Choi, & Shin, 2004). 대사증후군 유병률은 여자는 나이가 들수록 증가하며, 특히 폐경기인 50세를 전후해서 증가한다 (Lee et al, 2005).…”