Metabolic syndrome in hypertensive adults from rural Northeast China: an update

Background: The last study reported the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in hypertensive residents from rural Northeast China was conducted approximately ten years ago. The purpose of this study was to update the prevalence and epidemiological features of Metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: This survey was conducted from July 2012 to August 2013. In this study, a total of 5866 hypertensive residents from the rural Northeast China were randomly selected and examined. MetS was defined according to the to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Data regarding the demographic and lifestyle characteristics and the blood biochemical indexes of these participants were collected by well-trained personnel. Results: The overall prevalence of MetS among hypertensive residents was 43.1%. Women had significantly higher incidence of MetS than men (56.4% vs. 29.2%, P < 0.001). Overall, 51.7%, 39.6%, 29.3% and 55.9% of the hypertensive adults had abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-C, and increased fasting glucose. Multivariate logistic regression, after adjusting for possible confounders, revealed the following factors that increased the risk of MetS: being female, older age, completion of education through high school, obesity, current smoking. Moderate physical activity, a family income between 5000-20000 CNY per year and higher diet score were correlated with lower rates of MetS. Conclusions: The prevalence of MetS was dramatically high and exhibited a remarkably increasing trend in hypertensive rural Northeast Chinese. Female had higher incidence of MetS while male had more drastically increasing trend.