Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Middle-East countries: Meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies

Metabolic syndrome is an important metabolic disorder which impose noticeable burden on health system. We aimed to review and imply the prevalence of it in Middle-East countries. Methods present study was a systematic review to present overview about metabolic disorder in Middle East. Electronic literature search of Medline database and Google scholar were done for English-language articles without time filtering, as well as for population-based or national studies of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The fallowing search terms were used simultaneously: prevalence of “metabolic syndrome” and “national study”, “prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Middle East”, “prevalence of metabolic syndrome” and “name of country”, “metabolic syndrome &name of country”. Additionally, relevant articles in bibliography were searched. Analysis of data was carried out in STATA version 11.0. Results out of 456 studies in first-step searching (selecting by title) 59 studies were recruited and reviewed. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome fluctuated by country and time of study. This amount was 2.2–44% in Turkish, 16–41% in Saudi-Arabia, 14–63 in Pakistan, 26–33 in Qatar, 9–36 in Kuwait, 22–50 in Emirate, 6–42 in Iran, and up to 23 in Yemen. Pooled estimate was 25%. Attributable risk for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke was 15.87, 11.7, and 16.23, respectively. Conclusion The prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome is high and it is noticeable cause for stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease