The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To examine the relative effects of smoking versus metabolic syndrome (MetS) on the cardiovascular risk in Chinese elderly.

Methods: We did a population based cross-sectional study in a Beijing urban elderly sample of 2334 subjects (943 men, 1391 women) in 2001. Subjects were classified by MetS (yes/no) and smoking status (never, former and current). MetS was defined by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) included coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Results: 58.1% of men and 13.2 % of women were ever smokers. The prevalence of MetS in this population was 46.3% (34.8% in men and 54.1% in women). The risk of CHD, stroke and PAD was raised by smoking or metabolic status, respectively. Compared with never smokers without MetS, subjects with MetS had significantly higher risk of CVD among never (OR=1.76, 95%CI 1.43-2.16), former (1.70, 1.19-2.44)) and current smokers (2.93, 1.95-4.40). The corresponding ORs among those without MetS in the same smoking status were 1.00, 1.39 (1.00-1.94) and 1.45 (1.12-2.19). There was a dose-response relationship between the pack-years of cigarettes smoked and increasing risk of CHD, stroke and PAD in the subjects with or without MetS. We found that both smoking and MetS are highly prevalent in this elderly Chinese. There were the synergistic effects between the smoking and MetS in CVD. Smoking as a most easy preventive risk factor, is strongly associated with increased CVD independent of MetS.