National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Versus International Diabetic Federation Definition of Metabolic Syndrome, Which One is Associated with Diabetes Mellitus and Coronary Artery Disease?

Background: A cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus, which occur together more often than by chance alone, have been known as the metabolic syndrome. Various definitions have been proposed by different organizations over the past decade. This study was designed to evaluate a new definition of the metabolic syndrome for the prediction of diabetes mellitus among the Iranian population. Methods: This study was carried out in an urban population, aged 20 to 74 years, from Yazd, a city in the center of Iran. The study is a part of the phase I of Yazd Healthy Heart Program, that is, a community-based intervention study for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. The significance level has been defined as P<0.05. Results: Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria was 21.3 +/- 017%, and by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria it was 30.16 +/- 02%. The multivariate analysis showed that the most important relevant factors of diabetes mellitus were: Increased age and metabolic syndrome by both definitions of NCEP and IDF criteria, and also, the most important relevant factors of stable angina were: Increased age, male sex, and metabolic syndrome by only IDF definitions, but the NCEP definition of the metabolic syndrome cannot predict diabetes mellitus independent of age and sex. Conclusion: This study showed that increased age and metabolic syndrome are the most important relevant factors for diabetes mellitus, especially by using the IDF criteria for definition of the metabolic syndrome.