Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors among female employees of a private educational institution in the Federal District, Brazil.

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is independently associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. To establish the frequency of MetS components and cardiovascular risk profile of female employees of a private educational institution in the Federal District, Brazil. Cross-sectional study performed with 120 female workers aged 20 to 59 years old allocated to the administration and outsourced departments. We administered a questionnaire to investigate demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics, and performed anthropometric, blood pressure and biochemical measurements. The sample comprised 120 participants, the largest proportion were aged 31 to 40 years old (47.5%) and 74 (61.7%) participants reported to be brown skinned. About 73.3% of the participants were rated insufficiently active, 81.7% reported not to smoke and 65% to consume alcohol 3 times/week. About 40% of the sample exhibited increased waist circumference and 43.3% excess weight. About 26.7% of the participants exhibited high blood sugar, 56.7% high triglyceride and 61.7% low HDL levels. About 10.1% of the sample exhibited borderline blood pressure levels. We found association between number of MetS components and age range and physical activity (p<0.05). The participants exhibited a large number of MetS components and cardiovascular risk factors, high prevalence of excess weight, sedentary lifestyle and lipid profile abnormalities. Implementing public policies for health promotion, protection and support for workers likely to improve their working and living conditions in the medium and long term is indispensable.