臺灣地區老年人代謝症候群之盛行率調查

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome has become a significant health problem because of its association with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and various other chronic conditions. In the current study we strove to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome of the elderly in Taiwan. We further compared the differences in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the elderly by age group and gender. Research methods and procedures: A stratified multi -staged clustered sampling scheme was used in the Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) conducted during 1999-2000. A total of 2,432 non-institutionalized subjects (age range=65-97 years, mean=72.8±9.4 years ) were recruited. The chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis were adopted to examine the differences and to predict the risks of the metabolic syndrome for different age group and gender for the subjects. Results: The prevalence rates of metabolic syndrome read respectively 14.4% in men and 27.9% in women by NCEP/ATP Ⅲ criteria, and 25.5% and 46.8% by NCEP/ATP Ⅲ adjusted with the waist circumferences in Asian men and women. The weight, height, body mass index, triglyceride level, systolic pressure, and fasting blood glucose level were shown to report a decreasing trend as the age increases. Subjects aged 80 and above suffered a 0.55-fold greater risk (95 % confidence intervals=0.38, 0.79) of developing metabolic syndrome than those aged 65 to 69. And the risk of metabolic syndrome for women was a 2.58-fold greater (95 % confidence intervals=2.08, 3.20) than that for men after the effects of age are duly adjusted. Discussion: Though the prevalence rates of metabolic syndrome of the elderly in Taiwan were lower than those of US population, we still need to invest more efforts to improve the health care for our elderly, such as offering comprehensive counseling on healthy life style that is especially important for the younger elderly.