Prevalence and trends of metabolic syndrome in Korea: Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey 1998-2001.
BACKGROUND
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a major international health problem. Limited information is available about the prevalence of MetS in Asia, especially in Korea.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence and trends of MetS in a Korean population. In addition, we investigated the risk factors associated with MetS.


METHODS
A total of 7445 participants aged >/=20 years from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHNS) 1998 and 5964 participants from the KNHNS 2001 were included in this analysis. The KNHNS is a cross-sectional health survey of a nationally representative sample of the Korean population. The prevalence of MetS was determined using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria and the Asia-Pacific criteria for obesity based on waist circumference (APC-WC).


RESULTS
Using the ATP III criteria, the age-adjusted prevalence of MetS among Korean adults was 15.7% (13.7% male, 17.8% female) in 1998 and 14.4% (13.0% male, 16.2% female) in 2001. Using the APC-WC criteria, the prevalence was 21.6% (19.4% male, 23.9% female) in 1998 and 21.4% (20.1% male, 23.4% female) in 2001. Of the five MetS components, increasing trends were found between 1998 and 2001 in the prevalence of hypertriglyceridaemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and central obesity for both men and women. Age, sex, body mass index and a family history of diabetes were associated with MetS.


CONCLUSIONS
These results from a representative sample show that MetS is common in Korean adults. A systemic public health programme is required to prevent future increases in diabetes and cardiovascular complications.
Park
H S
HS
Department of Family Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
S M
SM
Lee
J S
JS
Lee
J
J
Han
J H
JH
Yoon
D K
DK
Baik
S H
SH
Choi
D S
DS
Choi
K M
KM
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001824:Body Constitution; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution