A Metabolic Syndrome in Whites and African-Americans: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities baseline study
- Maria Inês Schmidt, MD, PHD,
- Bruce B Duncan, MD, PHD,
- Robert L Watson, DVM, PHD,
- A Richey Sharrett, MD, DRPH,
- Frederick L Brancati, MD,
- Gerardo Heiss, MD, PHD and
- The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study Investigators
- Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Division of Epidemiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center Jackson, Mississippi
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center Jackson, Mississippi; the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda
- Welch Center for Prevention, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Baltimore, Maryland
- Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Baltimore, Maryland; and the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Maria Ines Schmidt, MD, PhD, Faculdade de Medicina, UFRGS, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600/414, Porto Alegre, RS 90035-003 Brazil. E-mail: bbduncan{at}vortex.ufrgs.br
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To describe clustering of hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and hyperuricemia and its association with fasting insulin, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and BMI for African-American and white men and women.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Observed frequencies of clusters were compared with those expected in 14,481 participants, 45-64 years of age, of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) baseline survey, 1987–1989. Associations of clusters with insulin, central adiposity, and overall obesity, as well as with abnormalities, were analyzed through multiple logistic regression.
RESULTS Clustering beyond chance was observed in all four sex/ethnic groups (P < 0.001), with 7% of the sample presenting 30% of the abnormalities in large clusters (≥ 3 abnormalities per individual). The odds ratio (OR) for the association of each abnormality with clustering of the remaining four ranged from 1.6 to 8.8 (P < 0.01). These odds of clustering were notably large in white women. Of the abnormalities, hypertriglyceridemia demonstrated the highest OR (5.0–8.8) and diabetes had the lower OR in African-American subjects than in white subjects (P < 0.001). Insulin, WHR, and BMI were statistically associated with clustering in all groups (P < 0.001, except for BMI in African-Americans.
CONCLUSIONS Clustering of abnormalities consistent with the concept of a metabolic syndrome is present in both white and African-American subjects.
- Received June 12, 1995.
- Revision received December 14, 1995.
- Accepted December 14, 1995.
- Copyright © 1996 by the American Diabetes Association
