Prevalence trend of metabolic syndrome in younger vs. older Chinese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis from 441,868 individuals

Conference:

SAPC ASM 2018 - London

Talk Code:

P2.38

Presenter:

Martin CS Wong

Co-authors:

Junjie Huang1, Jason Liwen Huang1, Vincent Chi-ho Chung 1, Martin Chi-sang Wong1, 2, 3

Author institutions:

1. JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China 2. Institute of Digestive Disease, Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong 3. State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Problem

Globally, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is rising rapidly due to increasing rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyle. Its escalating burden induced substantial healthcare costs in primary care in terms of its morbidity and mortality. Determining the prevalence trend of MetSyn in the young population is important as the occurrence of MetSyn could represent a significantly increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare the prevalence trend of MetSyn between young and older Chinese adults.

Approach

A literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase, WanFang, and CNKI from their conception to 31 January, 2018, aiming for epidemiological studies that reported the prevalence of MetSyn in Chinese individuals. A random effect model was used to estimate the prevalence and its 95% confidence interval. Subgroup analyses by age, sex, and year of screening were performed. Temporal trend of the prevalence in different age groups was analysed using line charts. All these analyses were performed using STATA 14.0 with the significance level set at p-value < 0.05.

Findings

A total of 41 eligible studies were identified and included in the current meta-analysis. The overall prevalence of MetSyn for Chinese adults was estimated as 23.6% (95% CI: 21.6%, 25.7%). The prevalence of MetSyn in females (30.0%, 95% CI: 26.2%, 33.8%) was higher than that in males (19.2%, 95% CI: 16.2%, 22.4%). The prevalence of MetSyn in adults between 15-40 years old (12.8%, 95% CI: 8.5%, 18.0%) was lower than that in adults over 40 years old (29.0%, 95% CI: 24.7%, 33.5%). However, there was a significant increasing trend for the prevalence of MetSyn in young adults (p=0.004), but not in older adults (p=0.891).

Consequences

We reported a significantly increasing trend of MetSyn prevalence in young Chinese adults aged <40 years since the beginning of the new millennium. These findings implied that early screening of MetSyn is warranted in young adults for earlier diagnosis so as to facilitate appropriate preventive measures and early clinical treatment.

Submitted by:

CHI SANG WONG

Funding acknowledgement: