A Structural Model for the Risk Factors of Metabolic Syndrome in Rural Women

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to construct and test a structural equation model to investigate the risk factors of metabolic syndrome in rural women. METHODS: The raw data in this study was collected from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study supervised by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2005 to 2010. The data included physical examinations and surveys of 1,125 women, who resided in three rural areas of South Korea. The structural model in this study was composed of five latent variables: depression, stress, social support, health behavior, and metabolic syndrome. The structural equation model was used to assess the relationships among the variables. RESULTS: The results of the study showed that depression and stress had direct effects on metabolic syndrome. Social support had a direct effect on health behavior and metabolic syndrome. Also, health behavior had a direct effect on metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: This study may serve as a guideline for interventions and strategies used to reduce metabolic syndrome in rural women.

Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome and Relative Importance of Five Components as a Predictor of Metabolic Syndrome: 5-Year Follow-up Study in Korea

The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of metabolic syndrome and to identify five components as metabolic syndrome predictors. The final study included 1,095 subjects enrolled in a rural part of Daegu Metropolitan City, Korea for a cohort study in 2003. Of these, 762 (69.6%) subjects had participated in the repeat survey. During the five-year follow-up, incidence density was significantly higher for women than for men (men, 30.0/1,000 person-years; women, 46.4/1,000 person-years). In both men and women, incidence of metabolic syndrome showed a significant increase with increasing number of metabolic syndrome components at baseline. Compared with individuals presenting none of components at baseline, relative risks were increased 1.22 (men; 95% CI, 0.43-3.51), 2.21 (women; 95% CI, 0.98-4.97) times more for individuals with one component of metabolic syndrome and 5.30 (men; 95% CI, 2.31-12.13), 5.53 (women; 95% CI, 2.78-11.01) times more for those who had two components. In multivariate analysis, the most powerful risk factor for metabolic syndrome was abdominal obesity in men and low HDL-cholesterol in women (adjusted relative risk, 3.28, 2.53, respectively). Consequently, finding a high risk group for metabolic syndrome according to gender and prevention of metabolic syndrome through lifestyle modification are essential.