Estimation of prevalence of metabolic syndrome among 1st year medical students of a medical college in North Karnataka, India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome is a growing concern as it predisposes to cardiovascular comorbidities and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Medical students lead fairly sedentary lifestyle. Early detection of metabolic syndrome and follow-up would help in preventing complications. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in healthy medical students of JN Medical College and to compare the prevalence among male and female students. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted from January 2018 to July 2018 involving 120 students, of which 67 (55.83%) were female and 53 male (44.17%). The study was conducted using the criteria for metabolic syndrome defined by international diabetes federation. Data for height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein were collected. Data were analyzed using SSPS version 20.0. Comparison of physiological parameters was done using independent t-test, and prevalence was estimated using Chi-square test. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was observed in 10.83% of sample population comprising 11.94% female and 9.43% male population. The prevalence among females was found to be more than males but not statistically significant (P = 0.66). The prevalence of individual parameters for metabolic syndrome were abdominal obesity (59.17%), raised TG (2.50%), reduced HDL (38.33%), raised blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP [SBP] – 20.83% and diastolic BP – 28.33%), and raised blood glucose (5.83%). In terms of gender analysis, 46.27% females and 28.30% of male had lower HDL values (P = 0.04). SBP was higher in 37.74% male when compared to 7.46% female (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study concludes that the overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was found to be 10.83%. The prevalence among female (11.94%) was more than male (9.43%) population but not found to be statistically significant. Early detection of metabolic syndrome would help bring about attitude and lifestyle changes to prevent the progression of disease and its complication.

Keywords

• High-density lipoprotein
• medical students
• metabolic syndrome
• waist circumference