RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Majority of the studies have evaluated the independent effect of each risk factor on several component of metabolic syndrome. This study investigates the influence of accumulation of risk factor through life course (socioeconomic circumstances, physical activity and obesity) on the risk of metabolic syndrome and their components in older population in Spain. METHOD: We have studied 4009 subjects representative of the Spanish non-institutionalised population aged 60 years and older. We have elaborated a measure of exposure through life course exposure after combining five risk indicators: low childhood social class, low education, low adult social class, physical inactivity and general obesity. The indicator has six categories of risk from the most favourable (0 risk factors) to the least favourable exposure (5 risk factors). Study participants were considered to have metabolic syndrome if they simultaneously had abdominal obesity, raised blood pressure and diabetes mellitus. RESULTS: The prevalence of abdominal obesity fluctuated between 74.2% and 95.8% in men and between 87.8% and 99.1% en women, prevalence of raised blood pressure did between 77.5% and 85.0% in men and 75.7% and 88.0% in women, and prevalence of diabetes mellitus did between 13.0% and 34.8% in men and 7.6% y 25.4% in women. Except for raised blood pressure and diabetes mellitus in men, increase was gradual with the number of risk factors. The absolute difference in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome between people that had the risk indicator profile least favourable and people that had the risk indicator profile most favourable through life course was 22% in men and 17% in women. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of metabolic syndrome is influenced in a cumulative fashion by socioeconomic exposures and risk behavioural to health acting throughout the life course. The prevalences of abdominal obesity, of raised blood pressure, and of diabetes mellitus show an ascending gradient from the most favourable categories of risk to the least favourable categories of risk, except for raised blood pressure and diabetes mellitus in men