Abstract

Objective: Metabolic syndrome is a set of metabolic disorders highly related with cardiovascular diseases and has high expansion among population. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and characteristics of the metabolic syndrome amongst women of reproductive age. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted using a systematic randomized sampling method. Overall, 406 women of reproductive age living in Abhar city western Iran was recruited. Data was analyzed using T-test, Fisher exact test and chi-square. Results: The prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome was 28.1. This figure increased as the mean age and body mass index (BMI) of women increased. The common metabolic disorder was HDL < 50 (98.2). Majority of cases with metabolic syndrome were either overweight or obese (53.5). The most expansion of metabolic syndrome was observed in the age range of between 45 to 49 years (70.6). There was a significance relationship between having metabolic syndrome and patients' level of education and profession (p<0.01). Conclusions: Obesity and old reproductive age are the main risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome. Increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this part of the world is going to be a major public heath concern which indicates the necessity of applications for preventive programs based on national and international guidelines.