A Cross-Sectional Study on the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Smokers Versus Non-Smokers

Metabolic syndrome represented a clustering of abdominal obesity, dysglycaemia, dyslipidaemia and elevated blood pressure that together conferred an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The present study consequently examined the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among smokers versus non-smokers and characterised any differences in its constituent components and related risk profiles.

This was a hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study attending general medicine and preventive clinics. Smoking status was assessed by structured interview, while metabolic syndrome was defined based on standard criteria requiring at least three out of five components, consisting of central obesity, raised triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated blood pressure and elevated fasting plasma glucose.

Smokers and non-smokers were similar in age, socio-economic status and overall adiposity, but smokers more frequently consumed alcohol and were predominantly male. Compared with non-smokers, smokers had higher mean levels of triglycerides and lower mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, while the differences in blood pressure and fasting glucose were smaller and did not reach statistical significance. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers; smokers more often had three or more clustered components, with higher frequency of raised triglycerides and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Current smoking was associated with a higher prevalence and greater clustering of metabolic syndrome components compared with non-smoking in this adult outpatient population, driven largely by a more adverse lipid profile and more frequent accumulation of three or more metabolic risk factors.