Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and factor analysis of cardiovascular risk clustering among adolescents in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to describe the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adolescents of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and to identify components of cardiovascular risk clusters.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative sample of 693 high-school students 13 to 16 years old in 2007. MetS was defined according to five different definitions: the Pediatric International Diabetes Federation, the Adult Treatment Panel III, and the modified definitions by Cook, Weiss, and De Ferranti. Principal components analysis (PCA) was carried out to cluster risk factors.

RESULTS

The prevalence of MetS was high and varied from 3.9% to 12.5%, depending on the criteria used. High levels of triglycerides (or low High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol) and high blood pressure were the most prevalent components of MetS, while impaired glucose tolerance was the least prevalent. PCA showed three factors in boys (obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia) that cumulatively explained 64.3%, and four factors in females (obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia) that accounted for 73.6% of the observed variance of MetS.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of MetS in HCMC adolescents was high. Obesity accounts for the maximum variance in clustering and appears to be a more powerful correlate of cardiovascular risk than other variables.