Iranian Journal of

Background: The clustering of cardiovascular risk factors , known as the metabolic syndrome , greatly increases the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease .individuals with the metabolic syndrome are also at increased risk for premature death from cardiovascular disease or all–cause mortality . Although is a particular importance, its epidemiology in Iran has not been studied systematically. Aim of this review of published data was to describe epidemiology of metabolic syndrome in Iran.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, sid, magiran, iranmedex, and irandoc databases through 2014, and examined the reference lists of pertinent articles, limited to studies in humans.

Results: Total 45 studies were eligible (25 English and 20 Farsi). The findings show the high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in both sexes according to three criteria. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was more in women than men. We found that differences in screening programs and diagnostic criteria or various ethnic groups make it difficult to compare frequencies of metabolic syndrome among various populations. Nevertheless, factors that increase risk of metabolic syndrome were age, sex, body mass index, low HDL and high triglyceride.

Conclusion: High prevalence of metabolic syndrome and relevant risk factors suggest the identification of the risk factors should be attempted to prevent syndrome acquisition.