the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: metabolic syndrome (ms)is a collection of metabolic disorders which leads to early cardiovascular disease and diabetes type ii. regarding the wide range of its prevalence in iran, this systematic review and meta-analysis determined the overall prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in iran. methods: in this systematic review and meta-analysis, the medline, isi, iranmedex, and sid were searched us-ing metabolic syndrome, syndrome x, prevalence, and iran keywords from 2002 to 2012. a total of 223 articles were found in which 14 studies were considered for meta-analysis. data were analyzed using fixed and random model and meta-regression in stata. results: the prevalence of ms for those who were 20 yr and older was 23. 8% (95%ci: 18. 99-28. 67) and in under 20 was 10. 98% (95%ci: 7. 75-14. 2). metabolic syndrome was more frequent in women (25. 5%) than in men (17. 16%) and was increased with increasing age. the most frequent component of metabolic syndrome was low hdl cholesterol (59. 7%) followed by hypertriglyceridemia (39. 5%). conclusion: regarding a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and some of its components such as low hdl and high triglyceride in our country, implementation of programs for metabolic syndrome prevention is necessary