Background: Several negative outcomes have been documented post-COVID-19 pandemic, including many cardiometabolic abnormalities associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Objectives: The study aims to evaluate the prevalence of MetS among Jordanian adults post-COVID-19 and compare these results with previous findings. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 5188 adults of both sexes (age >18 years) were recruited. Body weight, height, waist circumference (WC), fasting plasma glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and blood pressure were measured. Results: The crude prevalence of MetS, using both the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) diagnostic criteria, was 42.9% (32.5% in males and 46.9% in females). There was no change in the crude prevalence of MetS among the total population between 2017 (48.2% and 44.1%) and 2024 (48.1% and 45.0%) by IDF and ATP III criteria, respectively ( p > 0.05). In comparison, the age-standardized prevalences were 44.6% (95% CI 43.3%–45.9%) for ATP III and 47.7% (95% CI 46.4%–49.0%) for IDF. The main contributing factors for MetS, according to ATP III, were low HDL-C (65.4%) and enlarged WC (60.4%). However, according to IDF criteria, enlarged WC (76.9%) was followed by low HDL-C (65.4%). Conclusion: Although the crude prevalence of MetS stayed relatively stable before and after COVID-19, age-standardized data show a noticeable upward trend, pointing to an increasing cardiometabolic burden. These findings highlight the urgent need for wide-ranging, population-level strategies that emphasize lifestyle modifications, screening, and early intervention to address metabolic risks.
Al-Shami et al. (Sun,) studied this question.