Metabolic syndrome among undergraduate students attending medical clinics for obligatory medical screening

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for metabolic syndrome (MS) among first-year undergraduate students in three Sudanese universities. Methods: A total of 384 first-year students attending university medical clinics for obligatory medical checkup in Khartoum, Sudan participated in this cross-sectional study. Anthropometric parameters, including weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were measured with reference to National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III) guidelines. Fasting blood samples were collected from all participants and assayed for fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low density lipoprotein (LDL). Results: The overall prevalence of MS in the test group was 7.8%. The prevalence of MS, though higher in females, was statistically not significant (p = 0.32). According to residential area (rural - urban), the prevalence was higher in urban than rural, 10.4 and 4.4%, respectively (p = 0.25 and p = 0.25, respectively). In addition, frequency of MS was directly proportional to age. The weight of patients with MS was significantly different from that of non-MS subjects (p ˂ 0.001). Same was also observed when obese patients were compared with non-MS subjects. (p ˂ 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of MS among Sudanese first-year university students in Khartoum is moderately high. Incidence of MS among the students is directly proportional to BMI.