Metabolic syndrome shown to be highly prevalent in the United Arab Emirates

Data from 4097 men and women aged ≥20 years participating in the Emirates National Diabetes study and screening for risks factors for Coronary Artery Disease (ENDCAD) study were collected in order to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the United Arab Emirates. To this end, a stratified, multistage, random sample was selected. The age-adjusted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was very high (39.6% when using NCEP ATP III definition and 40.5% by IDF definition). Compared to patients without metabolic syndrome, those with metabolic syndrome had a larger waist circumference in both genders. When using ATP III definition, low HDL cholesterol was the commonest abnormality, whereas abdominal obesity was the commonest abnormality when using the IDF definition, which considers enlarged waist a sine qua non condition. Metabolic syndrome was significantly associated with increasing age, female gender, family history of diabetes, and, less intuitively, rural location. In conclusion, metabolic syndrome appears to be highly prevalent in the United Arab Emirates, with important future implications for the national health care sector.

Abstract

Keywords:
Abdominal obesity – Diabetes – HDL-cholesterol – IDF definition – NCEP ATP III definition – Waist circumference