ABSTRACT
To assess the demographic features of Metabolic Syndrome and the prevalence of composite cardiovascular disease [ischemic heart disease and stroke] and predictor factors in a Jordanian cohort with metabolic syndrome. We studied a Jordanian cohort who fulfilled the National Cholesterol Education Program and the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for metabolic syndrome. This cohort was evaluated at the outpatient clinics for the five metabolic syndrome components, the presence of ischemic heart disease and/or stroke. The cohort was divided into two groups according to gender, age by decade and the presence of overt diabetes. Comparative studies among the two study groups to compare the means and assessment of the metabolic syndrome components for prediction of cardiovascular disease was carried out. Three hundred and fifty eight [207 males and 151 females] patients fulfilled the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, 226 patients were type II diabetics on treatment. Hypertriglyceridemia was the most frequent feature of metabolic syndrome encountered followed by hypertension, high fasting blood sugar, high waist circumference [>102 cm] and low high density lipoprotein in descending disorder. There was no difference between the groups with regard to waist circumference but females had the worst lipid profile compared to males. Diabetic males however were having more metabolic syndrome components and diabetics were having more cardiovascular disease than other groups. Using univariate analysis, waist circumference and fasting blood sugar were found to be strong predictors of composite cardiovascular disease and ischemic heart disease but not stroke. We conclude that diabetics with metabolic syndrome have the worst cardiovascular disease composite end point and females have the worse lipid profile in comparison to males. Waist circumference and fasting blood sugar are the strongest predictors of ischemic heart disease [and composite cardiovascular disease]. Further larger controlled studies are needed to reveal whether there is difference in the stroke prevalence