Patterns of clustering of the metabolic syndrome components and its association with coronary heart disease in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA): A latent class analysis.

BACKGROUND: The Metabolic syndrome (MetS), refers to one of the most challenging public health issues across the world. The aim of this study was to explore the clusters of participants on the basis of MetS components and determine its effect on coronary heart disease (CHD).

METHODS: This study used the information from Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). MESA was performed at 6 US sites and was a population-based cohort study of 6776 adults (3576 females; 3200 males), aged 45 to 84 years. The participants were free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to achieve the study's objectives. The outcome variable was CHD during the study period (2000-2012).

RESULTS: The prevalence of all Mets components (except triglyceride (TG) and fasting blood glucose (FBS)) is more common in females than in males. Three latent classes were recognized: (1) Non-MetS, (2) low risk, and (3) MetS. Notably, MetS latent class included 29.88% and 35.38% in females and males, respectively. After adjustment for covariates (e.g. demographic, biomarker etc.), MetS latent class showed a positive association with CHD events in both genders.

CONCLUSIONS: Results showed that clustering pattern of the MetS components, as well as the association between latent classes and risk of incident CHD events, are different in females and males. Notable percentages of individuals are in the MetS class, which emphasizes the necessity of implementing preventive interventions for this sub-group of the population.