[Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Chilean adults]

There are several diagnostic criteria for Metabolic Syndrome (MS) definition.

To study their application in the Chilean general adult population.

We analyzed data from a random sub sample of 1.833 adults aged 17 years and older surveyed during the First Chilean National Health Survey conducted in 2003. The prevalence of MS was estimated using the update Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF 2005) criteria. The distribution of MS was analyzed according to age, gender, educational level, geographic area, obesity and sedentary lifestyle.

The overall prevalence of MS was 31.6% (95% CI 28.5-34.9) and 36.8% (95% CI 33.5-40.3), according to update ATPIII-NCEP and IDF criteria respectively. Both criteria had a 90% concordance. Demographic and socioeconomic distribution was similar for both criteria. The prevalence of high blood pressure, high fasting glucose, and low HDL cholesterol (MS components) were: 46, 22 and 53% respectively. The prevalence of abnormal waist circumference was 30 and 59% according to update ATPIII-NCEP and IDF criteria, respectively. Using update ATPIII-NCEP criteria, the gender, age and educational level adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having MS was 9.59 (95% IC 6.8-13.6) for obese subjects compared with normal weight subjects and 2.14 (95% IC 1.3-3.7) for sedentary subjects compared with non sedentary.

There was a 90% agreement between update ATPIII-NCEP and IDF criteria for the diagnosis of MS. The overall prevalence of MS in this population was 32% usuing update ATPIII-NCEP criteria, with higher prevalence among obese and sedentary subjects.