ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to study the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among patients with essential hypertension and to correlate metabolic parameters. It was a noninterventional, observational study in which 172 patients having essential hypertension who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included and all were subjected to a uniform questionnaire, medical examination and investigations. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 55.23% in patients with essential hypertension in this study, more common in females and most common in age group between 40 and 50 years (39.60%). Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level was the most common metabolic abnormality detected in patients with metabolic syndrome followed by an abnormal fasting blood sugar (FBS), abnormal waist circumference and abnormal triglyceride (TG) level. The females had an abnormal HDL-C levels in 92.06% (z = 16.19, p < 0.05) followed by an abnormal waist circumference in 61.90% (z = 6.85, p < 0.05). The FBS and TG were abnormal in 60.3% (z = 3.34, p < 0.05) and 50.7% (z = 2.57, p < 0.05), of female patients, respectively, while in males, the most common abnormality was low HDL-C in 87.5% (z = 12.54, p < 0.05) followed by abnormal TG levels in 65.62% (z = 3.71, p < 0.05), abnormal FBS 62.5%, (z = 2.92, p < 0.05) and abnormal waist circumference 40.62% (z = 2.14, p < 0.05). TG/HDL-C ratio of ≥3 was the variable that had the best correlation (p = 0.534) with the presence of metabolic syndrome.