ROmanian multicentric study of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome--ROMES.

according to the two definitions. Method: This was a cross-sectional study developed in two parts: the pilot study evaluated all patients admitted to 12 cardiology departments of county hospitals, and the main study included 1176 patients in 15 cardiology departments. Results: The prevalence of MetS in the pilot study (1326 patients, 53.4% men), using only NCEP ATP-III criteria, was 42.8% (45.9% in men and 39.4% in women, p=0.01), while in the main study (1176 patients, 49.7% men) the prevalence of MetS according to NCEP ATP-III and to IDF criteria was 40.6% (38.3% in men and 42.3% in women) and 44.2% (43.1% in men and 45.3% in women), respectively. MetS represented a risk factor only for stable angina (RR=1.35, 95% CI=1.20-1.53, p<0.001), with no gender difference. Conclusions: The prevalence of MetS and abdominal obesity is high in a population with cardiovascular disease. Both classifications showed a slightly higher prevalence of MetS in women compared to men. The relative risk of coronary heart disease associated with MetS was statistically significant only for stable angina.