Metabolic syndrome and its components in southern Kazakhstan: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The study aimed to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in southern Kazakhstan.

Methods: A total of 965 adults, ages 20-74 y, participated in a cross-sectional study. MetS was defined using National Education Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP), American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (AHA) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Social variations in the prevalence of components of MetS were assessed using Poisson regression.

Results: Among women, the prevalence of MetS was 17.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 14.7-21.1), 25.8% (95% CI 22.5-29.1) and 21.8% (95% CI 18.5-25.2) for the NCEP, AHA and IDF criteria, respectively (European standard population). The corresponding data for men were 15.3% (95% CI 10.7-19.9), 26.6% (95% CI 21.2-32.9) and 23.9% (95% CI 18.6-29.2). Abdominal obesity was the most prevalent component of MetS among women (74.3%), followed by hyperglycaemia (26.5%) and diastolic hypertension (25.5%), while for men the three most common components were abdominal obesity (70.7%), systolic hypertension (44.4%) and diastolic hypertension (40.0%). Secondary education was associated with a higher prevalence of abdominal obesity in both men (1.3 [95% CI 1.0-1.6]) and women (1.2 [95% CI 1.1-1.4]). Unmarried men were less likely to be obese (odds ratio 0.5 [95% CI 0.3-0.9]).

Conclusions: The distribution of components of MetS in southern Kazakhstan is different from other parts of the European World Health Organization region and varies across genders.