Prevalence and determinants of metabolic syndrome in Qatar: results from a National Health Survey.
To determine optimum measurements for abdominal obesity and to assess the prevalence and determinants of metabolic syndrome in Qatar.



National health survey.



Qatar National STEPwise Survey conducted by the Supreme Council of Health during 2012.



2496 Qatari citizens aged 18-64 representative of the general population.



Measure of obesity (body mass index, waist circumference or waist-to-height ratio) that best identified the presence of at least 2 other factors of metabolic syndrome; cut-off values of waist circumference; frequency of metabolic syndrome.



Waist circumference ≥102 for men and ≥94 cm for women was the best predictor of the presence of other determinants of metabolic syndrome (raised blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Using these values, we identified 28% of Qataris with metabolic syndrome, which is considerably lower than the estimate of 37% calculated using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Restricting the analysis to participants without known elevated blood pressure, elevated blood sugar or diabetes 16.5% would be classified as having metabolic syndrome. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased steadily with age (OR=3.40 (95% CI 2.02 to 5.74), OR=5.66 (3.65 to 8.78), OR=10.2 (5.98 to 17.6) and OR=18.2 (7.01 to 47.5) for those in the age group '30-39', '40-49', '50-59', '60-64' vs '18-29'; p<0.0001), decreased with increasing educational attainment (OR=0.61 (0.39 to 0.96) for those who attained 'secondary school or more' compared with 'less than primary school'; p=0.03) and exercise (OR=0.60 (0.42 to 0.86) for those exercising ≥3000 vs <600 MET-min/week; p=0.006) but was not associated with smoking or diet.



Waist circumference was the best measure of obesity to combine with other variables to construct a country-specific definition of metabolic syndrome in Qatar. Approximately 28% of adult Qatari citizens satisfy the criteria for metabolic syndrome, which increased significantly with age. Education and physical activity were inversely associated with this syndrome.
Department of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar.
Mohamed Hamad
MH
Al-Thani
Department of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar.
Al Anoud Mohammed
AA
Al-Thani
Department of Global and Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar.
Sohaila
S
Cheema
Office of the Dean, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar.
Javaid
J
Sheikh
Department of Global and Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar.
Ravinder
R
Mamtani
Department of Surgery and Department of Family Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
Albert B
AB
Lowenfels
Department of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar.
Walaa Fattah
WF
Al-Chetachi
Department of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar.
Badria Ali
BA
Almalki
Department of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar.
Shamseldin Ali
SA
Hassan Khalifa
Department of Public Health, Supreme Council of Health, Doha, Qatar.
Ahmad Omar
AO
Haj Bakri
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
Patrick
P
Maisonneuve
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001786:Blood Glucose; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011780:Qatar / Q000453:epidemiology; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055105:Waist Circumference; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio; D055815:Young Adult
D001786:Blood Glucose; D008055:Lipids
Metabolic syndrome; National health survey; Qatar; Waist circumference