Survey on metabolic syndrome in the elderly in Beijing of China

Objective To investigate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome(MS) among the dwellers in Beijing, China. Methods We analyzed data on 2201 residents aged 60 years or older from the cross section health survey of Beijing, China. The basal information, economic situation, history of chronic disease and medicine information were included in investigation. Weight, height, blood pressure were measured. The fasting blood sugar, HDL-C, TG, TC were measured, too. The diagnostic criteria of MS were defined by China Diabetes Association. Results The age standardized prevalence of MS was 22.2% in the elderly in Beijing, China. The age standardized prevalence of obesity, high blood sugar, hypertension, high blood TG and low HDLC-were 36.3%, 23.9%, 65.3%, 32.8% and 3.7% respectively. The prevalences of these diseases were decreased with aging. There were significant differences between urban and suburb, female and male, literate and non-literate in prevalence of MS by Chi square test. Conclusions The metabolic syndrome is a highly prevalent disease in aged population in Beijing, especially for the younger aged person.