Prevalence of metabolic syndrome components and diabetes mellitus in Slovakia

In Slovakia, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease (CHD) is high although the reason of the west-east gradient prevalence in Europe is not yet clear. A total of 1517 representative subjects of the Slovak adult population was studied, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and diabetes mellitus being diagnosed according to the American Diabetes Association criteria and the metabolic syndrome according to NCEP ATP III and IDF criteria. In the Slovak population studied, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 7.0% based upon self-reporting questionnaire and fasting glycaemia, whereas the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 20.1% when using NCEP ATP III criteria and 38.1% when using IDF criteria, with low HDL cholesterol being the most common metabolic syndrome component. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is higher in Slovakia than in West Europe and equal to that observed in Mediterranean countries, whereas metabolic syndrome prevalence and its components appear to be equal to those of other European countries, excepting low HDL cholesterol, the prevalence of the latter among the Slovak population being one of the highest in Europe.

Abstract

Keywords:
Diabetes – Dyslipidaemia – HDL cholesterol – IDF definition – IFG – NCEP ATP III definition – OGTT