Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in a Bulgarian female population referred for bone density testing

To investigate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Bulgarian women referred for bone density screening.

This was a cross-sectional clinical study. Subjects were 444 consecutive 30- to 75-year-old Bulgarian women recruited from the outpatients referred for bone density testing (mean age, 52.67 +/- 15.19 years; mean BMI, 26.10 +/- 5.71 kg/m2. Height (centimeters), weight (kilograms), and blood pressure were measured. BMI and waist-to-hip ratio were calculated. Fasting plasma glucose, blood lipids, and immunoreactive insulinemia (Bayer Corp.-Diagnostics Div., Tarrytown, NY) were determined. Body composition was analyzed by bioimpedance on a leg-to-leg analyser (Tanita TBF-215; Tanita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan).

Of all women, 56.76% had a BMI > 25 kg/m2, 45.95% had a waist circumference > 88 cm, and 64.64% had a waist-to-hip ratio > 0.8; 59.90% had hypertension; 4.05% had fasting plasma glucose > 7.0 mM, and 42.79% had fasting morning immunoreactive insulinemia = 16 UI/liter; 23.65% had hypercholesterolemia; and 26.35% had hypertriglyceridemia. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in this sample, as defined by the National Cholesterol and Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III, was 34.91%, and by the modified World Health Organization definition was 37.16%.

We concluded that Bulgarian women 30 to 75 years old referred for bone density testing have a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. Therefore, large-scale prevention programs are needed in this field.