Validity of a continuous metabolic syndrome score as an index for modeling metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-V study

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the present study was to assess the validity of continuous metabolic syndrome score (cMetS) for predicting metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to determine the cutoff values in a representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents. Methods: This national study was conducted among 3843 students, aged 7-18 years country during the fifth survey of a national school-based surveillance program. The cMetS was computed by standardizing the residuals of waist circumference, mean arterial blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose by regressing them according to age and sex and aggregating them. The optimal cut-off points of cMetS for predicting MetS were determined by the receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve analysis in different gender and age categories. Results: Totally, 3843 students (52.3 boys) with average age of 12.45 years were assessed. The mean of cMetS increased according to elevating the number of MetS components. The overall cMetS cut-off point was 1.76 (sensitivity 93 and specificity 82) in total pediatrics. The area under the ROC curve was 94. The values for boys and girls were 1.79 and 2.72, respectively. Conclusions: cMetS performed highly accurate in predicting pediatrics with MetS in all gender and age groups and it appears to be a valid index in children and adolescents.