Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants according to tertiles of the Metabolic Syndrome Severity Score (MetSSS).
| Variables | Tertile 1 (n = 1913) |
Tertile 2 (n = 1913) |
Tertile 3 (n = 1913) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women, n (%) | 704 (36.8) | 981 (51.3) | 1054 (55.1) | <0.001 |
| Age, years | 64.7 ± 5.1 a | 65.3 ± 4.9 a | 65.0 ± 4.9 | <0.001 |
| Prevalence of obesity, n (%) | 1000 (52.3) | 1535 (80.2) | 1647 (86.1) | <0.001 |
| Education level, n (%) | 1899 | 1893 | 1895 | <0.001 |
| Illiterate or primary education | 846 (44.5) | 945 (49.9) | 992 (52.3) | |
| Secondary education | 573 (30.2) | 552 (29.2) | 524 (27.7) | |
| Academic or graduate | 480 (25.3) | 396 (20.9) | 379 (20.0) | |
| Smoking habit, n (%) | 1904 | 1905 | 1909 | <0.001 |
| Never smoked | 749 (39.3) | 852 (44.7) | 904 (47.4) | |
| Former smoker | 907 (47.6) | 791 (41.5) | 795 (41.6) | |
| Current smoker | 248 (13.0) | 262 (13.8) | 210 (11.0) | |
| Married status | 1902 | 1906 | 1910 | 0.012 |
| Single or divorced | 242 (12.7) | 261 (13.7) | 261 (13.7) | |
| Married | 1499 (78.8) | 1442 (75.7) | 1427 (74.7) | |
| Widower | 161 (8.5) | 203 (10.7) | 222 (11.6) | |
| Employment status, n (%) | 1902 | 1904 | 1895 | <0.001 |
| Working | 455 (23.9) | 342 (18.0) | 367 (19.4) | |
| Non-working | 372 (19.6) | 435 (22.8) | 508 (26.8) | |
| Retired | 1075 (56.5) | 1127 (59.2) | 1020 (53.8) | |
| MetS components, n (%) | ||||
| High blood pressure Hyperglycaemia Hypertriglyceridemia Low HDL-cholesterol Abdominal obesity |
1719 (89.9) 1322 (69.1) 1065 (55.7) 742 (38.8) 1769 (92.5) |
1750 (91.5) 1435 (75.0) 1072 (56.0) 837 (43.8) 1859 (97.2) |
1801 (94.1) 1558 (81.4) 1102 (57.6) 903 (47.2) 1876 (98.1) |
<0.001 <0.001 0.440 <0.001 <0.001 |
| Medication | ||||
| Antihypertensive agents | 1460 (76.3) | 1466 (76.6) | 1539 (80.4) | 0.003 |
| Anti-cholesterol agents | 966 (50.5) | 964 (50.4) | 1053 (55.0) | 0.018 |
| Insulin | 36 (1.9) | 64 (3.3) | 174 (9.1) | <0.001 |
| Oral hypoglycaemic agents | 271 (14.2) | 433 (22.6) | 802 (41.9) | <0.001 |
| Aspirin or antiplatelet drugs | 240 (12.5) | 278 (14.5) | 376 (19.7) | <0.001 |
Data is presented as mean ± SD or as number of participants (percentage). Abbreviations: BMI: body-mass-index; HDL: high density lipoprotein. Differences in percentages were tested by chi-squared test and difference in means between tertiles were tested by Kruskal Wallis test for non-normally distributed variables with Bonferroni post-hoc correction. Differences (p-value <0.05) between a Tertile 1 vs. Tertile 2.