New scoring system may better identify adolescents with metabolic syndrome

In addition, the investigators evaluated whether this score differed between races and ethnicities, specifically blacks, whites and Hispanics. To do this, they used factor analysis, a statistical approach that looks for a "behind-the-scenes" factor that helps determine how certain measures group together. The research team used data from 4,174 people ages 12 to 19 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2010.

Results showed that individual components of the metabolic syndrome did group together differently between racial-ethnic groups. Male blacks, for instance, were less likely than other racial groups to have low "good" cholesterol, but when they did, it was a more ominous sign of worsening metabolic syndrome, DeBoer said. The new scoring system diagnosed the metabolic syndrome in nearly 76 percent of male blacks versus only 42 percent using the current system.

DeBoer said the new scoring system did better than the usual system at predicting which adolescents had elevations in cardiovascular risk factors that are related to the metabolic syndrome but not part of its diagnosis. These included fasting insulin levels, uric acid and C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation associated with cardiovascular risk.

Source: University of Virginia, Charlottesville