Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among qassim university personnel in saudi arabia.

OBJECTIVE to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Qassim university personnel in Saudi Arabia using the definition proposed by NCEP ATPIII. METHODS a cross sectional study that included all male university staff of different ages and careers. 560 individuals participated in this study with a response rate of 85%. For all participants, the data collected were sociodemographic characteristics, past history or receiving medication for diabetes or hypertension, smoking habits, physical activity, and measurements necessary to identify metabolic syndrome. RESULTS Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 31.4%. The prevalence was found to show a steady increase with increasing age, BMI and serum cholesterol. General obesity measured by BMI was the most common component associated with the syndrome where 75% of participants suffered from overweight and obesity. Participants with high-density lipoprotein below protective level constituted 73.6%, while those with total cholesterol and triglyceride above clinically normal level constituted 60.0% & 46.4% respectively. Elevated fasting plasma glucose and hypertension were the least common. After adjustment, factors found to be associated with metabolic syndrome were being a Saudi national, smoking, not doing regular exercise, being obese having total serum cholesterol above 180 mg/dl, and age groups above 40 years. CONCLUSION Almost a third of the university personnel have metabolic syndrome and therefore they are at higher risk for both cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus. Similar studies are required among a wider range of subjects to assess the scope of the problem in Saudi Arabia.