Characteristics of the Metabolic Syndrome in the Patients of IBERICAN Study (Identification of the Spanish Population at Cardiovascular and Renal Risk)

Objective: The main objective of this study is to know the prevalence and the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and premorbid metabolic syndrome (pre-MetS) included in the Identification of the Spanish Population at Cardiovascular and Renal Risk (IBERICAN) study. Materials and Methods: The IBERICAN study is an epidemiological, multicentric observational study carried out in Primary Healthcare Centers from all over Spain, in which an open cohort of subjects with/without cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) is constituted. The MetS was defined according to the international criterion based on the presence of at least three of the five criteria of the harmonized definition. Results: A total of 4304 patients were selected; 38.5% patients (95% confidence interval 37.0-40.0) met the MetS criteria. In both groups (MetS and pre-MetS), patients were older (62.3 ± 12.1 vs. 54.4 ± 15.2, P < 0.001). The CVRF analyzed were more frequent in patients with MetS: hypertension (HT) (71.1% vs. 33.0%, P < 0.001), dyslipidemia (65.8% vs. 40.2%, P < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (DM) (38.2% vs. 6.4%, P < 0.001), and obesity (54.8% vs. 21.7%, P < 0.001), and all the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) analyzed were more prevalent in these patients: stroke (5.1% vs. 3.6%, P = 0.013), heart failure (5.1% vs. 1.6%, P < 0.001), ischemic heart disease (9.8% vs. 5.8%, P < 0.001), and peripheral arterial disease (6.8% vs. 3.7%, P < 0.001). We observed that patients with DM were 6.36 times more likely to present MetS; patients with obesity, 3.81 times; and patients with HT, 2.66 times. Conclusion: Patients with MetS and with pre-MetS presented higher CVRF and increased associated renal and CVD. The prognostic value of these findings must be analyzed in the longitudinal follow-up of the IBERICAN cohort.