Introduction: The Joint Committee for Developing Chinese Guidelines (JCDCG) introduced the Chinese definition for metabolic syndrome (MS), which has been verified in southern Chinese people but not in northwestern Chinese people. We evaluated the MS definition proposed by the JCDCG in a northwestern Chinese population, in comparison with those of the revised National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATPIII) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study was a part of the China National Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Study conducted in Shaanxi province. We included 3243 participants aged ≥ 20 years. The age-adjusted MS prevalence was assessed per the 2007 Chinese population structure. The agreement between different definitions was assessed by the kappa statistic.
Results: The standardized prevalence of JCDCG-MS, revised ATPIII-MS, and IDF-MS was 22.4%, 29.4%, and 24.9%, respectively. Among women, the agreement of the JCDCG definition with the revised ATPIII and the IDF definition was not good (κ = 0.599 and 0.601, respectively); 54.6% of the revised ATPIII-MS and 56% of the IDF-MS were defined as MS according to the JCDCG definition. Among men, the agreement of JCDCG definition with the revised ATPIII and IDF definitions was very good (κ = 0.863) and substantial (κ = 0.741), respectively.
Conclusion: The agreement of the JCDCG definition with the revised ATPIII and IDF definitions was insufficient in women. Compared with the other two definitions, the JCDCG definition underestimates MS prevalence in northwestern women.
Keywords: Agreement; Cardiovascular diseases; Chinese; Diabetes; Metabolic syndrome; Prevalence; Waist circumference.