Smoking, Habitual Tea Drinking and Metabolic Syndrome in Elderly Men Living in Rural Community: The Tianliao Old People (TOP) Study 02

The literature shows an inconsistent relationship between lifestyle behaviors and metabolic syndrome (MetS), especially in the elderly. We designed this study to investigate the interrelationships among cigarette smoking, tea drinking and MetS, and to verify the factors associated with MetS in elderly males dwelling in rural community. In July 2010, with a whole community sampling method, 414 male subjects aged over 65 dwelling in Tianliao township were randomly sampled. The response rate was 60.8%. Each subject completed the structured questionnaires including sociodemographic characteristics, habitual behaviors (including cigarette smoking and tea drinking habits) and medical history. After an overnight fast, the laboratory and anthropometric data were obtained. MetS was confirmed according to the criteria defined by the modified NCEP ATP III for the male Chinese population. Subjects were split into either non-MetS or MetS groups for further analysis. Of the 361 subjects with complete data, 132 (36.6%) elderly men were classified as having MetS. Using binary logistic regression, body mass index, serum uric acid, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, HOMA index, current smokers (OR = 2.72, 95%CI: 1.03 ~ 7.19), total smoking amount > = 30 (OR = 2.78, 95%CI: 1.31 ~ 5.90) and more than 20 cigarettes daily (OR = 2.54, 95%CI: 1.24 ~ 5.18) were positively associated with MetS. Current un- or partial fermented tea drinker (OR = 0.42, 95%CI: 0.22 ~ 0.84), tea drinking habit for 1-9 years (OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.15 ~ 0.90) and more than 240 cc daily (OR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.17 ~ 0.72) were negatively associated with MetS. In conclusion, this study suggests that smoking habit was positively associated with MetS, but tea drinking habit was negatively associated with MetS in elderly men dwelling in rural community.