Factors associated with metabolic syndrome in rural communities from Brazil

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome is recognized worldwide as an important public health, strongly associated with diabetes mellitus type 2 and cardiovascular diseases.

Objetive: This epidemiological, observational, cross-sectional and population study was carried-out with the aim to identify the factors associated with metabolic syndrome in Virgem das Graças and Caju, respectively, rural areas of Ponto dos Volantes city and Jequitinhonha city, communities located in the Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

Methods: The sample consisted of 534 adults of both sexes, ages 18 to 94, whose were collected information on demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, biochemical and hemodynamic characteristics.  Metabolic syndrome was defined according to modified criteria of National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel. The strength of association was measured by Prevalence Ratio – PR and its 95% confidence intervals – 95% CI, through the technique of Poisson regression, which was also used to adjust for potential confounding variables, and to identify determinants independently associated with metabolic syndrome. Significance statistical level was set at 5% (p <0.05).

Results: Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 14.9% (95% CI: 11.9 – 18.4) of the participants, and was statistically more frequent among women (23.3%, 95% CI: 18.1 – 29.1) than men (6.5%, 95% CI: 3.8 – 10.3). Female sex, obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²), c-reactive protein – CRP, homeostasis model assessment index – HOMA-IR, age, and moderate consumption of alcohol (3.1 to 20.0 grams of ethanol/day) were independently associated with metabolic syndrome after multivariate analysis.

Conclusions: In a rural area of Minas Gerais State, metabolic syndrome is a public health problem, associated with factors likely to change, such as obesity and alcohol consumption. Female gender was identified as a priority group of health care.