Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in elderly Taiwanese: Results from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000)

Objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MtS) in elderly Taiwanese.

Methods: Data were from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000) (NAHSIT-II), a national survey of non-institutionalized elderly (> 65 y) Taiwanese. The survey employed a multi-stage, stratified, and clustered probability sampling scheme. MtS is defined as having any 3 of the following 5 conditions: abdominal obesity (AO, waist > 90 cm for men & > 80 cm for women), hypertriglyceridemia (HTG, TG > 150 mg/dl), low serum HDL-C (HDL-C < 40 dg/ml for men & < 50 mg/dl for women), hypertension (HT, SBP > 130/DBP > 85 mmHg or use of antihypertensive agents), and hyperglycemia (HG, fasting glucose > 100 mg/dl or use of antidiabetic agents) according to the Dept. of Health of Taiwan.

Results: Of the 2984 participants, 1568 completed both the questionnaire and clinical examination, and results showed that 39% of elderly met the definition of MtS. The proportions of elderly having AO, HTG, low HDL-C, HT and HG were 43.7, 27.5, 29.0, 60.2, and 59.1%, respectively. The proportions of elderly with low HDL-C and HT increased with age while the opposite is true for AO, HTG, and HG.

Conclusion: The prevalence of MtS is high in elderly Taiwanese. The risk of MtS is associated with AO, HT and HG. (The authors acknowledge the Office of Nutrition Survey of Academia Sinica for providing the survey data).