High Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Outpatients in a Tertiary Care Centre, Tamil Nadu, India

Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), a constellation of specific cardiometabolic risk factors increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. These risk factors can be largely reversed through lifestyle changes. To develop individualized lifestyle therapeutic interventions among patients attending non-communicable disease specialty departments, there is a need for identification of people with high risk of developing MetS. Aim and Objectives: To determine the prevalence of MetS, it's associated demographic and clinical characteristics among patients attending specialty Outpatient Department (OPD) in a tertiary care centre. Material and Methods: In this hospital-based cross-sectional study, randomly selected adults (aged 20 years or more) attending the diabetology or cardiology OPD were included. Using pretested interview tool, demographic details, height, weight and waist circumference were measured as per standard guidelines. Blood pressure, fasting blood sugar and fasting lipid profile were assessed. MetS was classified based on the modified Adult Treatment Panel (ATP-III) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Results: A total of 668 patients were included and the mean age was 50.1 +/- 9.7 years. Of the total, 72.6% and 64.5% of patients had MetS. Patients aged 60 years or more had 1.8 times [Adjusted PR 95% CI: 1.05-3.16] higher prevalence of MetS compared to 20-30 years. Patients who were doing at least 30 minutes of regular moderate physical activity had 17% less occurrence of MetS [Adj PR: 0.71-0.96] compared to those who did less than 15 minutes of physical activity. Gender, literacy, type of diet and amount of visible fat intake were not significantly associated with MetS. Conclusion: MetS is highly prevalent among patients attending diabetology and cardiology OPD. Across several subgroups, around two-thirds had MetS and low high-density lipoprotein was the major contributing factor for MetS.