RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is a common disease and most asthmatics are obese. Both asthma and obesity are showing parallel trends in their increasing prevalence. Obesity is also the main component of metabolic syndrome and several studies have shown metabolic syndrome to be associated with bronchial asthma. The present study was, therefore, designed to determine the frequency of metabolic syndrome among patients with chronic asthma in our setup. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Medicine, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from May to November, 2014. One hundred and fifty-four asthmatic patients were enrolled in this study. Samples for blood glucose, triglycerides and HDL Cholesterol were taken after an overnight fast. Sitting blood pressure was measured with mercury sphygmomanometer after 10 minutes of rest. Waist circumference was measured at the level of the midpoint between the high point of the iliac crest and the last rib. RESULTS: Out of 154 patients, 80 were males and 74 were females. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 46 (29.87%) patients. When metabolic syndrome was stratified according to age, sex and duration of asthma, the results were found to be insignificant (p-0.89, 0.30 and 0.85). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that metabolic syndrome was present in almost one third of study population.