title: Efficacy of a continuous metabolic syndrome score in Indian children for detecting subclinical atherosclerotic risk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the continuous metabolic syndrome score (cMetS) in Indian children and to investigate its relationship with the risk of carotid arterial stiffness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on weight, height, mean arterial pressure, serum lipids, insulin, glucose, carotid intima-media thickness and stiffness parameters, that is, pulse wave velocity (PWV), elasticity modulus (Ep), stiffness index (β) and arterial compliance (AC), were assessed in 236 children (6-17 years) from Pune city, India. cMetS was computed using standardized Z-scores for metabolic syndrome (MS) components. cMetS cutoff was obtained by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis across MS components.
  
  
  RESULTS
  cMetS was lowest (-3.6±2.0) in normal children and highest (3.3±2.4) in MS children. cMetS increased progressively with number of risk components. The cutoff of cMetS yielding maximal sensitivity (80%) and specificity (94%) for predicting the presence of MS was -0.8 (area under the curve=0.921 (95% CI: 0.877-0.964)). In children with cMetS above -0.8, average PWV (4.3±0.6 m s(-1)), β (3.8±1.2) and Ep (50.4±14.5 kPa) were significantly higher than the respective values (3.7±0.5 m s(-1); 3.4±0.8; 37.0±10.0 kPa) in children with cMetS below -0.8, whereas AC was lower (1.2±0.5 mm(2) kPa(-1)) in children with cMetS above -0.8 as against AC (1.4±0.3 mm(2) kPa(-1)) in children with cMetS below -0.8 (P<0.05), demonstrating the risk of stiffness with increasing score. Pearson's correlation coefficients of cMetS with PWV (r=0.575), β (r=0.347), AC (r=-0.267) and Ep (r=0.530) were statistically significant (P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results demonstrate the usefulness of cMetS over individual MS components as a better tool for assessment of atherosclerotic risk in children.
authors.affiliation: Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiplonkar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khadilkar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kinare
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Khadilkar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000517:prevention & control; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D014655:Vascular Resistance