Purpose: There are few prospective data on the incidence of metabolic syndrome. The goals of this study were to define the incidence of and specific risk factors for metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Korean male workers 30 to 39 years of age.
Methods: A prospective cohort study was undertaken involving 4,779 male workers, 30 to 39 years of age, who did not take medication for dyslipidemia or have a history of any malignancy at study entry. Subjects were reexamined annually at a university hospital in Seoul, Korea, over a 3-year period between 2002 to August 2005. A modified National Cholesterol Education Program definition of MetS with body mass index was used instead of waist circumference. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios in separate models for MetS.
Results: At the end of the 3-year follow-up period, MetS developed in 708 individuals. The unadjusted incidence density of MetS was 70.5 (95% CI, 65.3 approximately 75.37), and the age-adjusted incidence density of MetS was 76.9 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI, 67.8 approximately 86.1). Among a variety of candidate risk factors, uric acid, weight change, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, and alanine aminotransferase were independent risk predictors for MetS.
Conclusions: The high-incidence density of this MetS in Korea may be an indicator of future increases in diabetes and cardiovascular disease.