Subclinical hypothyroidism and anxiety may contribute to metabolic syndrome in Sichuan of China: a hospital-based population study

The prevalence of Metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Sichuan of China has not yet been estimated. Meanwhile the association among anxiety, subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and MetS was less well-studied. The data was retrieved retrospectively from Health Promotion Center of West China Hospital database between 2014 and 2017. Internal validation by randomizing into training and testing panel by 9:1 and external validation with National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES) were conducted. 19006 subjects were included into analysis, and 3530 (18.6%) of them were diagnosed with MetS. In training panel, age, sex (male), SCH (presence), SAS score, alcohol (Sometimes & Usual) and smoking (Active) were identified as independent risk factors for MetS, which was confirmed in testing panel internally. NHNES data validated externally the association between free thyroxine (fT4) and MetS components. The C-indices of predicting MetS nomogram were 0.705 (95% CI: 0.696–0.714) and 0.728 (95% CI: 0.701–0.754) in training and testing panel respectively. In conclusion, MetS prevalence was 18.6% in Sichuan. SCH and anxiety may be associated with MetS independently. A risk scale-based nomogram with accurate and objective prediction ability was provided for check-up practice, but more cohort validation was needed.