The differences of metabolic syndrome in elderly subgroups: A special focus on young-old, old-old and oldest old

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is known to be correlated to future diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Due to the aging society, the increasing prevalence of MetS in the elderly is an important health issue. However, there were few studies focusing in this field. We investigated the changes of MetS components in the subgroups of the elderly.

Subjects aged above 65 years old who underwent routine health checkups in Taiwan (N=18916) were divided into three groups (young-old: ≧65 and <75, old-old: ≧75 and <85 and oldest-old ≧85). By using multiple logistic regressions, the odds ratio (OR) of subjects with abnormal MetS components to have MetS were evaluated.

For men, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased as the age got older. On the contrary, the diastolic blood pressure and triglycerides (TG) decreased. In women, the waist circumference and SBP increased significantly from the young-old to the oldest-old groups. The highest percentage having MetS was 35% in old-old men and 62% in oldest-old women. Finally, subjects with high TG had the highest and BP had the lowest ORs for having MetS in both genders except oldest-old women.

In the elderly, the MetS and its components have different patterns not only in young-, old- and oldest-old groups but also in men and women. Moreover, among the five components, hypertension was always the most prevalent one. Finally, subjects had high TG had the highest ORs to have MetS compared to other components.