title: Gender differences in the prevalence and development of metabolic syndrome in Chinese population with abdominal obesity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Not all the people with metabolic syndrome (MS) have abdominal obesity (AO). The study aimed to investigate gender differences in the prevalence and development of MS in Chinese population with abdominal obesity, which has rarely been reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from the 2007-08 China National Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Study, and participants were divided into two samples for analysis. Sample 1 consisted of 19,046 people with abdominal obesity, while sample 2 included 2,124 people meeting pre-specified requirements. Survival analysis was used to analyze the development of MS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age-standardized prevalence of MS in Chinese population with AO was 49.5%. The prevalence in males (73.7%) was significantly higher than that in females (36.9%). Males had significantly higher proportions of combinations of three or four MS components than females (36.4% vs. 30.2% and 18.4% vs. 5%, respectively). MS developed quick at first and became slow down later. Half of the participants with AO developed to MS after 3.9 years (95% CI: 3.7-4.1) from the initial metabolic abnormal component, whereas 75% developed to MS after 7.7 years (95% CI: 7.5-7.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with females, Chinese males with AO should receive more attention because of their higher prevalence of MS and its components, more complex and risky combinations of abnormal components, and faster development of MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Shaoyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ming
authors.forename: Junxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Qiuhe
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric