Background: To evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the incidence of dementia using big data from national health claims and health examinations. Methods: This study involved 3,619,388 subjects categorized with MetS of three status based on the results of health examinations conducted in 2009. This was a longitudinal study of the incidence of dementia based on the national health claims from the date of health examinations in 2009 until December 31, 2018. This study was conducted for men and women aged 50 to 69 years living in Korea. A Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to analyze the risk of dementia according to the status of MetS. Results: The cumulative incidence of Alzheimer dementia was 0.41% in the non-Mets group, 0.54% in the pre-MetS group, and 0.67% in the MetS group. The cumulative incidence of vascular dementia was 0.19% in the non-Mets group, 0.27% in the pre-MetS group, and 0.34% in the MetS group. The risk of Alzheimer dementia in the pre-MetS group compared to the non-Mets group was 1.20-fold greater (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.14-1.26) and was 1.39-fold (95% CI: 1.31-1.48) greater in the MetS group. The risk of vascular dementia in the pre-MetS group compared to the non-Mets group was 1.30-fold greater (95% CI: 1.21-1.40) and the risk of vascular dementia was 1.53-fold (95% CI: 1.44 1.71) greater. Conclusions: This study showed that pre-MetS and MetS were related to an increased incidence of Alzheimer dementia and vascular dementia. Also, these results support efforts to decrease the incidence of Alzheimer dementia and vascular dementia through managing the Mets.
Keywords: dementia; longitudinal study; metabolic syndrome; relevance.