Metabolic Syndrome in Military Aircrew Using a Candidate Definition

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Indian population varies from 31.6 to 41.1%. Indians, without being conventionally obese, but inherently insulin resistant, have higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Since military aircrew, belonging to the same ethnic pool, may reflect similar prevalence of MetS as the general Indian populace, this study was undertaken to find the prevalence of MetS among Indian military aircrew using one candidate definition.

In this cross sectional descriptive study, 210 military aircrew voluntarily participated. Besides demographic and lifestyle related details, their anthropometric measurements, including height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and skin fold thickness were recorded. Body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were deduced from the recorded measurements. Resting heart rate and blood pressure were recorded and appropriate laboratory investigations were undertaken.

Prevalence of MetS, as per chosen definition, was 33.3% (N = 70), which had moderate, fair, and slight agreement with NCEP ATP III (k = 0.43), IDF (k = 0.27), and WHO (k = 0.15) definitions, respectively. Decadal prevalence of MetS was found to be highest in the fourth decade (46.8%), followed by the third decade (41.3%).

Reported prevalence of MetS highlights an urgent need to define preventive strategies to minimize loss of trained manpower among military aircrew. Flight surgeons have an important role to play to educate aircrew about modifying their lifestyle to reduce morbidity and mortality among themselves in the future. Sharma S, Chandrashekar AM, Singh V. Metabolic syndrome in military aircrew using a candidate definition. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):790-794.