Repercussions of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome on adults and elderly people in the context of primary health care

Objective To identify the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in users of the hypertension and diabetes mellitus program at a Health Center in Jequie City, Bahia, Brazil. Materials and methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 100 patients enrolled in HIPERDIA. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the State University of Southwest of Bahia (Minutes no. 013/2011). Results The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in these users was 43%. Regarding sex, the prevalence was 35% among men and 47% among women, considering that in 23% of the medical records there were insufficient data for classification. Conclusions It was evidenced that the metabolic syndrome reaches proportionately more women than men, whereas, in relation to age, a higher prevalence of the disease was verified in individuals older than 60 years.