Socio Demographic Determinants of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components in South-West Nigeria

The occurrence of hypertension, obesity, dysglycaemia and dyslipidaemia together has been shown to result in increased risk of development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This present study assessed prevalence of components and the socio-demographic determinants of metabolic syndrome.

Methods: A cross- sectional descriptive study was conducted. Lagos and Ogun States were purposively selected. Selection of an urban and a rural community in Lagos and Ogun state respectively was done using multi stage sampling methods. Consecutive sampling was used to select apparently healthy subjects 18 years and above. Metabolic syndrome was defined based on the Joint Interim Statement (JIS) criteria. Regression analysis was used to assess the determinants of metabolic syndrome and its components.

Results: Five hundred and thirty-five subjects were recruited with the mean age of 47.1±14.7 years. About 14% of subjects had no MetS components. More of the females than males had two (37.5% vs 24.7%, p =0.005) and three (17.2% vs 6.8%, p = 0.002) components of MetS. Generally, the most prevalent component of MetS were central obesity (49.5%), hypertension (42.1%) and reduced HDL cholesterol (41.5%). The proportion of subjects with two, three and four components of MetS increased with age. The prevalence of MetS based on the JIS criteria was 23%. Gender (OR 3.05, 95% CI 1.72 – 5.44, p < 0.001), urban setting (OR 4.2 95%CI 2.6 – 6.8, p <0.001) and alcohol intake (OR 2.407, 95% CI 1.37 – 4.2, p = 0.002) were the determinants of MetS in this study.

Conclusion: The prevalence of MetS and its components were high in this study especially among females. The need of life style modification to reduce the prevalence of MetS and its components cannot be overemphasized.