Factor Analysis of the Individual Components of the Metabolic Syndrome Among Elderly Identifies Two Factors With Different Survival Patterns—A Population-Based Study

Background: Factor analysis reduces a set of directly measured variables into a smaller set of underlying factors representing unique statistically independent domains termed “factors.” In middle-aged people, previous factor analyses of the components of the metabolic syndrome have identified two to four factors. Many of these analyses report blood pressure as one of these factors.Methods: We performed a factor analysis of the individual continuous components of the metabolic syndrome among 198 men and 203 women comprising 65% of all 75 year olds from the city of Vasteras in Sweden.Results: The metabolic syndrome comprised two factors. Factor 1, the metabolic factor, consisted of waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting glucose, whereas factor 2, the blood pressure factor, consisted of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These two factors explained 58% (factor 1, 31%, and factor 2, 27%) of the total variation in men. The corresponding figures for women were ...