title: Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 according to different defining criteria.
abstract: The authors studied the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) according to the World Health Organization, National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definitions. There was 92.9% agreement between the NCEP and IDF definitions. The IDF prevalence was higher (p = 0.001) due to more men fulfilling its criteria than the NCEP's (39.9 +/- 1.7% vs. 33.6 +/- 1.6%; p = 0.007). If central obesity were not a prerequisite, the IDF prevalence would increase slightly to 40.3 +/- 1.1%. Subjects categorized as having the metabolic syndrome under IDF but not NCEP tended to be men, younger, and leaner. Their prevalence of self-reported coronary heart disease was not significantly different from that of other metabolic syndrome patients. Whether waist circumference is a prerequisite does not affect the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome in the United States. The IDF definition identifies additional individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and the Research Centre of Heart, Brain, Hormone and Healthy Ageing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. mycheung@hkucc.hku.hk
authors.forename: Bernard M Y
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Kwok Leung
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Yu Bun
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Man
authors.forename: Louisa Y F
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Chu-Pak
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Karen S L
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology