Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among professional and office workers in Bangkok, Thailand.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Thai professional and office workers and to compare the prevalence with other populations. MATERIAL AND METHOD The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,339 professional and office workers (535 men and 804 women) who participated in the annual health examinations at the Mobile Health Checkup Unit of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand during the period of August through December 2001. MetS was defined using the modified NCEP ATP III criteria. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate differences in distribution of covariates for affected and unaffected patients. RESULTS The prevalence of MetS among Thai professional and office workers was 15.2% and approximately 3 times more common among men than women (25.8% vs. 8.2%). Men and women with MetS were older (p < 0.05) and were less well-educated (p < 0.05) than those without MetS. The three most common metabolic abnormalities in men were high blood pressure (45.0%), BMI > or = 25 kg/m2 (40.7%) and hypertriglyceridemia (38.7%). Among women, high blood pressure (22.8%), BMI > or = 25 kg/m2 (20.9%) and low HDL-Cholesterol (18.4%) were the most common metabolic abnormalities noted. CONCLUSION The prevalence of MetS in this cohort of Thai professional and office workers was as high as those observed in developed countries. These findings emphasize the urgent need to develop strategies for the detection, treatment, and prevention of MetS. Such efforts will contribute to attenuating the incidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.