Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in an Adult Urban Population of the West of Iran

OBJECTIVES: We determine the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in an urban population of Zanjan, a province located to the west of Tehran. METHODS: Randomly selected adults >20 years were studied using stratified sampling. Target study sample was 2941 (1396 males and 1545 females). Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using Adult Treatment Panel-III (ATP-III) guidelines when any three of the following were present: central obesity, raised triglycerides > or =150 mg/dl, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure > or = 130/ > or = 85 mm Hg, and diabetes or fasting plasma glucose (FPG) > or = 100 mg/dl. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was present in 697 (23.7%) subjects (CI 95%:22%-25%, P = .001), prevalence was 23.1% in men and 24.4% in women (P : .4). The prevalence increased from 7.5% in the population younger than 30 y to 45.6% in ages more than 50 years. Low HDL was the most common metabolic abnormality in both sexes. Most of those with metabolic syndrome had three components of the syndrome (75.6%), 170 subjects (24.4%) had four and none had five components simultaneously. The prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 30 kg/m(2)), hypercholesterolemia (> or =200 mg/dl) and high LDL cholesterol (> or =130 mg/dl) was greater in the metabolic syndrome group than normal subjects (P = .00). CONCLUSIONS: There is a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this urban population of the northern west of Iran. Focus of cardiovascular prevention should be undertaken in this area.