Association of socioeconomic status with metabolic syndrome and its components among adult population: a community-based cross-sectional study in Nanjing Municipality of China

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components with socioeconomic status (SES) among general and gender-specific adult population in Nanjing municipality, China. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: 13287 participants completed the survey. A participant: (1) must be a local registered resident, (2) aged 18+ years, (3) had no literal or physical/mental problems and (4) was not pregnant. STUDY MEASURES: MetS was the outcome variable, which was defined based on the diagnostic criteria released by the Chinese Diabetes Society. SES was the main explanatory measure, which was indicated with educational attainment and family average income (FAI), separately. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS was 19.7% (95% CI=19.0% to 20.4%) among overall participants, and 24.6% (95% CI=23.5% to 25.6%) and 15.5% (95% CI=14.7% to 16.4%) for men and women, respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, participants with either college level (OR=0.51, 95% CI=0.43 to 0.60) or high school level education (OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.70 to 0.90) were at lower odds to experience MetS compared with those with primary education, while only those within upper FAI tertile were at significantly lower risk of MetS relative to their counterparts within lower FAI category (OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.76 to 0.97) among overall participants. Meanwhile, with respect to the five components of MetS, higher educational level predicted lower waist circumference (WC), triglycerides, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and fasting glucose concentration among all participants. And higher FAI was associated with lower WC and SBP and DBP in women, and with lower SBP and DBP in men. CONCLUSIONS: Education and FAI each were inversely associated with MetS and its components at the present stage of economic development in Nanjing Municipality of China. It has important public health implications that the tailored prevention strategies for MetS should be put into consideration of the intervention of MetS components and subgroups of people with different SES.