Metabolic syndrome as a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke: an 11-year prospective cohort in Taiwan community.
OBJECTIVE
Patterns of metabolic syndrome among populations in the Asia-Pacific region remain unknown. This study sought to establish the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Taiwan and the risk of cardiovascular disease imparted by this syndrome.


RESULTS
A cohort of 3602 individuals aged 35 years and above from one Taiwan community in 1990-1991 was followed up for a median of 9.0 years (inter-quartile range: 7.9-10.0 years). Women had a higher prevalence rates of age-standardized metabolic syndrome than men (28.9% versus 16.6%) by original NCEP-ATP III criteria, and the rates increased progressively. As numbers of metabolic syndrome increased, the hazard risk (HR) increased significantly, up to 5.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-13.7) for coronary heart disease and 3.5 (95% CI, 1.9-6.5) for stroke. We found that low HDL cholesterol and high BMI had the highest risk for coronary heart disease (HR, 2.3), followed by metabolic syndrome (HR, 1.8). For stroke events, high blood pressure had the highest risk (HR, 3.0), also followed by metabolic syndrome (HR, 2.1). The highest attributable risk for the general population was low HDL cholesterol for coronary heart disease event and high blood pressure for stroke.


CONCLUSIONS
Metabolic syndrome was highly prevalent among the adult population and associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease and stroke.
Chien
Kuo-Liong
KL
Institute of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
Hsu
Hsiu-Ching
HC
Sung
Fung-Chang
FC
Su
Ta-Chen
TC
Chen
Ming-Fong
MF
Lee
Yuan-Teh
YT
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D020521:Stroke / Q000208:ethnology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology