Is persistence of metabolic syndrome associated with poor health-related quality of life in non-diabetic Iranian adults? Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

AIMS/INTRODUCTION Previous research showed the association between health-related quality of life and metabolic syndrome (MetS). The present study aimed to examine the impact of persistence of MetS on health-related quality of life in non-diabetic Iranian adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. A representative sample of 643 non-diabetic individuals (67% female), aged ≥20 years, who participated in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study in 2005-2007 were recruited for the study, and categorized into four groups, those without, with transient, with intermittent and with persistent MetS. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the Iranian version of the Short Form Health Survey. MetS was diagnosed using the Joint Interim Statement criteria. RESULTS Women with transient, intermittent and persistent MetS scored lower on the Physical Component Summary than those without the syndrome (51.03 ± 1.41, 48.16 ± 1.46 and 46.58 ± 1.29 vs 52.18 ± 1.20) after adjusting for potential confounders (P = 0.04). In women, there was also a significant decreasing trend in the scores of bodily pain (P for trend = 0.006) and general health (P for trend = 0.005) across the study groups. Compared with women without MetS, the odds ratio of reporting poor health-related quality of life for women with intermittent MetS was 2.75 (95% confidence interval 1.19-6.37, P = 0.01). Among men, however, no significant difference was observed in any of the health-related quality of life domains. CONCLUSIONS Compared with women without, with transient and with persistent MetS, those with intermittent MetS reported poorer physical health-related quality of life.