The Relationship Between Occupation Transition Status and Metabolic Syndrome in Adult Women: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

Purpose: Although occupation status may play a role in the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), data on this topic are limited. The aim was to examine the association between occupation transition status and the 12-year incidence of MetS in adult women of a population-based cohort study. Methods: A total of 2406 women, aged 20 years, were selected from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Subjects were free of MetS at baseline and followed for a mean of 12 years. Based on occupation transition from baseline to the end of follow-up, women were classified into four groups: employed-employed (group I), employed-unemployed (group II), unemployed-employed (group III), and unemployed-unemployed (group IV). The odds ratio (OR) for the occurrence of MetS and its components according to occupation transition status was assessed by multivariate logistic regression. Results: The incidence of MetS in group I and group IV was 15.6% and 29.3%, respectively. In comparison with women in group I, those in group IV had higher risk of MetS (OR=2.45, 95% CI, 1.6-3.8); however, after adjustment for age, education level, marital status, smoking, and body mass index, the association between occupation status and MetS was not significant (OR=1.38, 95% CI, 0.83-2.27). In the fully adjusted model, women who were employed at baseline and unemployed at the end of follow-up had greater risk of incident MetS (OR=2.26, 95% CI, 1.26-4.06) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR=2.34, 95% CI, 1.40-3.85) compared with those who were constantly employed. Conclusion: Occupation transition from employed to unemployed status was found to increase risk of incident MetS.