title: Factors associated with metabolic syndrome in climacteric women of southern Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between socioeconomic, demographic, behavioral, and reproductive factors and the metabolic syndrome (MS) in climacteric women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 527 women aged 40-65 years seen at an outpatient menopause and gynecologic surgery clinic in Southern Brazil. MS was defined according to NCEP-ATP III diagnostic criteria. Poisson regression was used to calculate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of MS was 54.8% (95% CI 50.6-59.1%), varying with menopausal status (45.7% before menopause, 56.3% in perimenopause, and 57.5% in postmenopausal women). Among the components of MS, hypertension and abdominal obesity were the most prevalent (84.8% and 66.8%, respectively). The prevalence of MS rose with advancing age and increasing parity. Women with low education (years of schooling) showed a higher prevalence of MS compared to those with a high education level (64% vs. 36.8%). Women with early menarche (≤11 years of age) showed an increase of 32% in MS prevalence (95% CI 1.08-1.62) compared to those with a late menarche (≥14 years of age).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings are relevant to public health, particularly as they show the significance of exposure to long-term, hard-to-reverse effects, such as early menarche and low educational achievement, in the development of metabolic syndrome.
authors.affiliation: University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Post-Graduate Program of Collective Health, São Leopoldo, Brazil.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Theodoro
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Paniz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de Lorenzi
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Anselmo Olinto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003219:Confidentiality; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008572:Menarche; D008593:Menopause; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors