A Comparison of the Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome among Sri Lankan Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Using WHO, NCEP-ATP III, and IDF Definitions

BACKGROUND: Presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM) increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Therefore, recognition of MetS in type 2 DM is important in initiating the appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures. The commonly used definitions have similarities and discrepancies. Aims of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MetS among patients with type 2DM using all three well known (WHO, IDF, and NCEP-ATP III) definitions and to identify the concordance and the difference of these three definitions. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included patients with type 2 DM who were followed up at the regional diabetes centre in Galle, Sri Lanka. A total of 2913 type 2 DM patients were recruited by convenient sampling method, and their clinical and biochemical data were collected. RESULTS: The mean age (SD) of the sample was 49.9 (10.2) years and the mean duration of diabetes was 5.04 (5.71). Prevalence of MetS was highest by WHO (70%) followed by IDF (44%) and NCEP-ATP III (29%) definitions. The prevalence was significantly higher in women according to all three definitions, and the difference was most marked with NCEP-ATP III and IDF definitions. Around 25% were identified as having MetS by all three definitions whereas around 45% were recognized with MetS by two definitions. While concordances between WHO with IDF (0.37, p < 0.001) and NCEP-ATP III (0.24, p < 0.001) criteria were poor, they were average (0.53, p < 0.001) between NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MetS among patients with type 2 DM can significantly be varied based on the definition used and the three definitions of MetS recognized different set of individuals. The highest prevalence of MetS was observed with WHO (70.6%) whereas lowest was observed with NCEP-ATP III definition.