ABSTRACT
Objective: The diagnostic criteria for the metabolic syndrome (MetS) were published in Japan in April 2005. However, there have been no large-scale studies in rural areas to confirm these criteria. We examined the prevalence of MetS in subjects who had undergone a routine medical health checkup at our hospital, located in a rural area. This data was used to investigate the appropriateness of the diagnostic criteria for MetS.Subjects and Methods: The MetS status was examined retrospectively in 2340 subjects (1408 men, 932 women ; mean age 49.6 ± 9.7 years) who underwent a routine medical health checkup at our hospital between April 2004 and March 2005.Results: Of the 1408 men and 932 women, 209 men (14.8%) and 23 women (2.5%) were diagnosed with MetS. Forty-four men (3.1%) and 4 women (0.4%) met all three diagnostic criteria for metabolic disorders. In the female group, only 8.7% of the 932 women met the waist circumference criterion of ≥90 cm. Because this waist circumference criterion was used during the first screening but was not met by most of the women, they were eliminated from our study. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the cutoff values for waist circumference were 85.0 cm (sensitivity 0.750, specificity 0.564) in men and 79.5 cm (sensitivity 0.787, specificity 0.709) in women. If the women's waist circumference criterion had been set at the value of ≥79.5 cm, this would have resulted in 48 (5.2%) women meeting the criterion.Conclusion: From the viewpoint of preventive medicine, the Japanese male MetS diagnostic criteria are fairly appropriate. However, for the women, the waist circumference criterion of ≥90 cm has been set too high and was not met by most of the female subjects. Therefore, the Japanese MetS criteria for women, particularly the cutoff value for waist circumference, requires further verification.