Objective: To investigate the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) incidence related to different combinations of the metabolic syndrome (MS) components.
Methods: A total of 30,378 subjects aged 35 to 64 years were recruited from 11 provinces in a Chinese Multi-provincial Cohort Study and followed-up for new CVD) from 1992 to 2004. MS was defined under the new criteria 'Preventive Guideline of Dyslipidemia for Chinese Adults', issued in 2007. CVD incidence rates and relative risks (RR) were estimated by different MS components and by their various combinations.
Results: (1) According to the new criteria, the prevalence of MS was 11.8% for Chinese middle-age adults. The prevalence was 12.4% in men,significantly higher than that in women (9.0%). (2) Risk of CVD increased in proportion to the number of MS components after adjusting for other risk factors. If only 1 component was present, elevated blood pressure was the only significant predictor of CVD. When 2 components were present, 5 of the 10 combinations were associated with significantly higher risk. All combinations with > or =3 components (MS) had significant contribution except for those rare traits (<0.5% of the whole sample). Among the 16 combinations of > or =3 components,the feature of "central obesity and elevated blood pressure" was found in all the 7 combinations with the highest risk.
Conclusion: CVD risk associated with various number and combinations of MS components seemed to be heterogeneous. The clustering of > or =3 disorders, especially those with central obesity and elevated blood pressure could significantly predict the future development of CVD.