Metabolic syndrome as a useful tool in the identification of persons with an increased risk of nonfatal cardiovascular events in the Polish urban population — a prospective study

Streszczenie

Introduction. The increasing worldwide prevalence of lifestyle diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, makes preventive measures more and more important. The identification of risk factors for cardiovascular events (CVEs) allows for determination of people requiring implementation of effective primary prevention.
The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in the urban population of Poland. The second aim was to assess which of the MS definition increased the risk of development of CVEs.

Material and methods. 798 people were included in the prospective study. In all study participants anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, biochemical tests and standardized questionnaire history of actual physical condition as well as lifestyle and family history of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes were examined.

Results. During the baseline study, MS according to World Health Organization criteria was diagnosed in 13.6% people. When considering third report of the National Cholesterol Education Program — Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP III) criteria, the prevalence of the MS raised up to 32.7% of the participants. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria, 43.7% of the people were diagnosed with MS. In the follow-up study, the prevalence of nonfatal cardiovascular events was 5.8%. Male gender, body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2, abdominal obesity (measured by waist-to-hip ratio), glucose 120’ oral glucose tolerance test, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and MS (NCEP and IDF criteria) were significantly and independently related to myocardial infarction (MI) and/or stroke.

Conclusions. Taking into account potential risk factors of CVEs, the most valuable in the identification of people with increased risk of developing MI and/or stroke was the MS definition according to NCEP-ATP III and IDF.