This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Tehranian women during menopausal transition.

In this cross sectional study 2182 subjects, pre-menopausal (pre-M) n=537, menopausal (M) n=311 and post-menopausal (post-M) n=1334 were selected from 15005 participants of the TLGS and assessed for MetS risk factors. All MetS components were evaluated following age adjustment according to the ATPIII criteria.

The mean ages of post-M, M and pre-M women were 61.0±4.3, 53.0±4.0 and 47.0±1.9 years, respectively. The prevalence of MetS in subjects was 63% (53%, 54% and 69%) in pre-M, M and post-M women respectively. HDL-c levels was significantly higher in post-M women in comparison to pre-M women (p<0.001). TG levels, FPG and waist circumference was significantly higher in post-M women in comparison to pre-M women (p<0.05). The most frequent markers of MetS were low HDL-c and high diastolic blood pressure in post-M women.

It is concluded that the frequency of MetS is significantly higher in post-M women as compared to pre-M women; low HDL-c and high diastolic blood pressure is the most frequent feature in comparison to other factors.