Metabolic syndrome and the early detection of impaired glucose tolerance among professionals living in Beijing, China: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is to investigate the association of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components with the risk of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in high risk urban professionals. The goal is to improve the selection of candidates who would most benefit from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). METHODS This is a cross sectional study in which MS was identified by both the definitions proposed by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). RESULTS There were 928 eligible subjects in the study, and 23.9% of them failed in OGTT. The odds ratio of IGT was increased 3.16-fold for MS defined by the NCEP criteria and 2.79-fold for the hyperglycemia factor alone. Both MS and hyperglycemia were shown to be acceptable measures to discriminate subjects with IGT from those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). The clustering of any 1, 2, or ≥3 metabolic components resulted in increased odds ratios for IGT: i.e., 1.71, 2.38 and 5.92, respectively. Even without hyperglycemia in the cluster, an increased odds ratio was still observed. The risk of IGT increased dramatically when the fasting plasma glucose and waist circumference were both at their highest defined level. CONCLUSIONS MS and its components are associated with the increased risk of IGT. People with MS, one of its components, especially hyperglycemia and central obesity, or a cluster of its components are strong candidates for an OGTT in order to achieve early cost-effective detection of IGT.