Prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Chinese subjects gradually increased with impaired glucose homeostasis: a multicenter, clinical based, cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a high risk factor for Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). We estimated to investigate how MetS prevalence by glucose homeostasis varies across different age and gender groups. METHODS: We studied 9257 Chinese subjects over the age of 15 years in two cross-sectional surveys in 2006. With oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) test, 2341 subjects were normal glucose tolerance (NGT), and 5448 were diagnosed as having type 2 diabetes (T2D). All other 1468 subjects were considered to be impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) subjects. Diabetes was diagnosis by WHO99 criteria. We used modified NCEP-III criteria for the diagnosis of MetS. RESULTS: The prevalences of MetS in the male NGT, IFG/IGT and T2D groups were 25.9% (404/1559), 65.6% (769/1172), and 73.5% (2483/3376), respectively. The prevalences of MetS in the female NGT, IFG/IGT and T2D groups were 13.4% (105/782), 51.0% (151/296), and 75.4% (1563/2072), respectively. The prevalence of MetS in the male IFG/IGT group gradually decreased from 73.26% to 41.08% in subjects over the age of 30 years. The prevalence of MetS in the female IFG/IGT group gradually increased from 30% to 75% with aging. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MetS in subjects with different glucose tolerances in China was high and gradually increased with impaired glucose homeostasis both in males and females.