Abdominal obesity and hypertension are correlated with health-related quality of life in Taiwanese adults with metabolic syndrome

OBJECTIVE: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) gains more attention due to high prevalence of obesity, diabetes and hypertension among adults. Although obesity, diabetes and hypertension can certainly compromise health-related quality of life (HRQoL), the correlations of sociodemographic factors, quality of life and MetS remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between HRQoL and MetS in an Asian community of the sociodemographic characteristics. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study by recruiting 2588 Taiwanese patients aged ≥30 years between August 2015 and August 2017. Sociodemographic data and anthropometric variables were obtained from medical records and physical examination. Meanwhile, HRQoL was assessed by 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey questionnaires. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of MetS was 32.8%. Multivariate analysis revealed that age ≥65 years (OR=1.987, p<0.001), body mass index (BMI) ≥24 kg/m(2) (OR=7.958, p<0.001), low educational level (OR=1.429, p=0.014), bad self-perceived health status (OR=1.315, p=0.01), and betel nut usage (OR=1.457, p=0.048) were associated with the development of MetS. For patients with MetS, the physical and mental health domains of HRQoL are negatively correlated with abdominal obesity and hypertension, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Adult MetS in Taiwan was associated with certain sociodemographic factors including older age, high BMI, low educational level, bad self-perceived health status, and betel nut use. Abdominal obesity and hypertension was correlated with HRQoL in patients with MetS.