Sociodemographic risk factors of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged women: results from a population-based study of Swedish women, The Women's Health in the Lund Area (WHILA) Study.
BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a common health problem in menopausal women. According to The Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III, MS includes the combination of three or more of the following risk factors: abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, high blood pressure, high serum triglycerides and low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of the MS in middle-aged women, and the relationships of sociodemographic factors to the MS. METHODS: This analysis covers 10,766 women born between December 2, 1935 and December 1, 1945, living in the Lund area of Sweden by December 1, 1995. RESULTS: We found that 11.6% of women with a mean (+/-standard deviation) age of 56.9 +/- 3.06 years had MS. Women with MS were older and had higher scores for body weight, body mass index, waist/hip ratio, pulse rate, pulse pressure, serum triglycerides and total serum cholesterol (p