Justification:

Knowing the degree of alteration in the metabolic syndrome’s components within the target population allows us to evaluate the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases.

Objective:

To compare the blood values of three analytes of the metabolic syndrome (triglycerides, glucose, and HDL cholesterol) taken from adult outpatients from Hospital de Guápiles, from both sexes, during the year 2015, in accordance to the reference values of NCEP ATP III.

Methods:

Glucose, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol values were taken from Hospital de Guápiles’ Laboratory, belonging to the year 2015. The absolute and percentage alteration of each analyte was determined according to sex, age group, as well as in a joint manner (both men and women), following the reference values of NCEP ATP III.

The alteration profile (absolute frequency and percentage) was also determined according to sex, age group, and in a joint manner.

Results:

HDL-C in women is the most altered parameter, with a 73 por ciento of the patients exhibiting it diminished. The same occurs when analyzing it by age group. In men the most altered parameter is also HDL-C (60.1 por ciento), followed by triglycerides (53.8 por ciento). The most common situation for women is the exclusive alteration of HDCL-C (3.1 por ciento), followed by the joint alteration of TRG-HDL-C (22.6 por ciento). For men it is rather the opposite: TRG-HDL-C is the most frequent (25.4), being followed by HDL-C (13-8 por ciento).

Discussion:

The most altered parameters were lipids. Also, as the age increased, so did the percentage of altered values, as well as the percentage of patients who had the three analytes altered. The age-related increase of a sedentary lifestyle, and overweight condition and obesity helps to explain this phenomenon.