Prevalence and clinical profile of metabolic syndrome in longevity: study from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, yet the prevalence of MetS among nonagenarians and centenarians was rarely reported. Here we investigated the prevalence of MetS and its components among nonagenarians and centenarians in our Zhuang population from Bama, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. METHOD: In Bama area, there registered 881 individuals who lived more than 90 years old in 269,800 local residents and our study involved 307 long-lived participants and 486 local younger (35–68 years) persons, as controls. MetS was defined according to the revised National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATPIII) criteria. RESULTS: The overall prevalence estimates of MetS among longevity group were 28.0% based on NCEP ATPIII criteria. The most common metabolic component was elevated blood pressure (61.1%), followed by raised fasting glucose (39.1%) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (low HDL-C) (28.0%). The prevalence of MetS and abdominal obesity in women (33.6% and 22.1% respectively) was higher than that of men (19.8% and 3.7% respectively) (P(range) < .001–0.019). Compared with controls, long-lived individuals were more likely to have two or more metabolic abnormalities (P(range) < 0.001), and less likely to have zero or one metabolic abnormality (P(range) < 0.001–0.020). CONCLUSION: This study showed substantiality the prevalence and clinical profile of MetS in longevity population in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.