Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Students of Faculty of Health Science and Technology in Ebonyi State University,

Abstract

Metabolic impairments could be seen at any point in human development. Although emphasis has been placed on older adults but it could be encountered in any age brackets. The aim of this study was to compare prevalence rates using different definitions of Metabolic syndrome (MetS) among students of Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology (FHST) in Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.  This was a cross-sectional study involving 80 students (28 male students and 52 female students) recruited from among students of FHST in EBSU, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. MetS was defined in three different ways [by International Diabetes Federation (IDF), National Cholesterol Education Program—Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATPIII), or World Health Organization (WHO) criteria]. Prevalence was found to be 6.3%, 2.5% and 7.5% using NCEP-ATP III, WHO, and IDF definitions respectively. The most common MetS components among female students using the NCEP-ATP III criteria were high blood pressure (5.8%) and abdominal obesity (5.8%), whilst low HDL-C concentrations, high blood pressure and abdominal obesity were most common among male students (7.1 % for each component mentioned). According to WHO, abdominal obesity (7.1%) and hyperglycaemia (7.1%) were the most common MetS components among male students. The most common MetS components among participants using the IDF criteria were abdominal obesity and high blood pressure. While some participants did not meet the MetS criteria of the NCEP-ATP III, WHO and IDF criteria (50%), many had one (30%) or two (13.8%) components and may be at risk of developing the syndrome in the future. The mean values of the risk factors used as criteria for the diagnosis of MetS were relatively normal in the study population thereby masking the presence of MetS, thus showing that the prevalence of MetS may gradually increase undetected unless individual members of the study population are subjected to laboratory investigation using different criteria for diagnosis of MetS. Therefore, traditional risk factors might be late markers for diagnosis of MetS since findings from this study showed that MetS was only detected in participants that already had it.