PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Impact of age and gender on the prevalence and prognostic importance of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Europeans. The MORGAM Prospective Cohort Project.

  • Julie K K Vishram,
  • Anders Borglykke,
  • Anne H Andreasen,
  • Jørgen Jeppesen,
  • Hans Ibsen,
  • Torben Jørgensen,
  • Luigi Palmieri,
  • Simona Giampaoli,
  • Chiara Donfrancesco,
  • Frank Kee,
  • Giuseppe Mancia,
  • Giancarlo Cesana,
  • Kari Kuulasmaa,
  • Veikko Salomaa,
  • Susana Sans,
  • Jean Ferrieres,
  • Jean Dallongeville,
  • Stefan Söderberg,
  • Dominique Arveiler,
  • Aline Wagner,
  • Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe,
  • Wojciech Drygas,
  • Michael H Olsen,
  • MORGAM Project

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107294
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 9
p. e107294

Abstract

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ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of age and gender on the prevalence and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Europeans presenting with the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS).MethodsUsing 36 cohorts from the MORGAM-Project with baseline between 1982-1997, 69094 men and women aged 19-78 years, without known CVD, were included. During 12.2 years of follow-up, 3.7%/2.1% of men/women died due to CVD. The corresponding percentages for fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke were 8.3/3.8 and 3.1/2.5.ResultsThe prevalence of MetS, according to modified definitions of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the revised National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATPIII), increased across age groups for both genders (P0.05), in women the HRs for CHD declined with age (HRs 3.23/3.98 to 1.55/1.56; MetS*age, P=0.01/P=0.001 for IDF/NCEP-ATPIII) while the HRs for stroke tended to increase (HRs 1.31/1.25 to 1.55/1.83; MetS*age, P>0.05).ConclusionIn Europeans, both age and gender influenced the prevalence of MetS and its prognostic significance. The present results emphasise the importance of being critical of MetS in its current form as a marker of CVD especially in women, and advocate for a redefinition of MetS taking into account age especially in women.