Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Factors Associated With It Among Adults of West Gojjam: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, indicating great clinical attention. However, much less attention has been given to metabolic syndrome in the study area. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its associated factors in the adult population of West Gojjam zone, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in West Gojjam from September 15 to October 20, 2018. A total of 627 participants were randomly selected. The data were collected using the WHO STEP-wise approach for non-communicable diseases by contextualizing the instrument based on the study questions. The collected data were entered into and analyzed in SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression was used to identify predictors of the dependent variable. The odds ratio was used to measure the strength of association between variables. For all statistical significance tests, the cut-off value set was p < 0.05 with CI of 95%. RESULTS: In the studied region, high prevalence of metabolic syndrome at 17.3% is documented. In the final model, age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.02, CI: 1.01–1. 05), occupation (AOR = 2.97, CI: 1.25–7.04), a moderate or high level of physical activity (AOR = 0.28, CI: 0.14–0.56 and AOR = 0.42, CI: 0.18–0.97) and type of oil used for cooking (AOR = 2.62, CI: 1.87–7.86) are significantly associated with metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this study is high, and it is determined by age, occupation, physical activity and type of oil used for cooking. Designing an intervention which focuses on promoting a healthy lifestyle like physical activity and using oils which are liquid at room temperature to prevent the risk of major non-communicable diseases is needed.