Identification of Factorial Structure of Metabolic Syndrome Variables among People within Age Range of 35-65 in Mashhad, Iran

Introduction:Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a set of simultaneousand related metabolic conditions. Identifying these relationships can affect adopting preventive and even curative measures. Hence, this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the factorial structure of MS variableson the individuals within the age range of 35-65 years who lived in Mashhad, Iran. Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was performed on9761 cases within the age range of 35-65 years in Mashhad. The mean scores of variables, such as body mass index, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fast blood sugar, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were compared in two genders, and the correlations among them were calculated. In order to investigate the structure of these variables, exploratory factor analysis was applied. Results:The results of factor analysis showed a different factorial structure between the two genders. There were a three-factor structure for men and a four-factor structure for women. The factors accounted for approximately 66 variance in men and almost 79 variance in women. It is worth mentioning that obesity with the explained 25variance played the most important role in the development of MS in men, and due to the factor loading of glucose as an insulin resistance indicator lower than 0.4, it did not have any effects on this structure. In the present study, hypertension was identified as the first factor for women with 22 explained variance, and blood glucose with HDL and triglyceride were placed in one factor with 19 explained variance. Conclusion:Considering the influence of MS in the development of cardiovascular diseases, preventive policies should be separately designed for each gender. Moreover, it is recommended to highly consider obesity in men and hypertension in women.