Cardiometabolic risk clusters in adolescents and adults: A latent class analysis in the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
1
HIV and Other Infectious Disease Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa
2
MRC Research Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease, North-west University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
3
The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi, India
4
Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
5
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
6
Division of Health Measurement Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A2996
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS) comprises hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is a major contributor to premature deaths globally. 1,2In this study we present the prevalence of sex-specific risk profiles of CMS in adolescents and adults in South Africa.
METHODS:
This study was a secondary analysis of data from participants aged ≥ 15 years enrolled in the first South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The primary outcome was CMS which was defined as having ≥3 of the following cardiometabolic risk factors: central obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, hypoalphalipoproteinemia, and hyperglycemia. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify latent clusters of these factors amongst the sample.
RESULTS:
5614 participants with a mean (SD) age of 40.23 (18.47) years were interviewed, and majority of them were black African (68.3%) females (65.3%). Among 5370 participants with outcome data, cardiometabolic risk factors were similar between males and females except for mean (95% confidence interval) waist circumference which was higher amongst females (87.0 (75.0-98.9)) than males (77.6 (70.0-89.0)) and systolic blood pressure which was higher amongst males (130 (118.0-143.0)) than females 125 (113-142). Hypoalphalipoproteinemia was the most predominant CMS risk factor, followed by central obesity and hypertriglyceridemia amongst females, and hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension amongst males. LCA identified the following 3 latent classes and posterior class probabilities: high (23.7%), medium (30.8%) and low-risk (45.4%) CMS groups. The high-risk CMS group had elevated conditional probabilities for abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypoalphalipoproteinemia and these varied by gender, with abdominal obesity more pronounced amongst females and hypertriglyceridemia amongst males.
CONCLUSIONS:
Cardiometabolic risk factors tend to cluster together South African adolescents and adults, and clustering patterns vary by gender. Further research needs to be done to understand the gender-specific CMS risk profiles for adolescents and adults so targeted interventions can be developed.
Cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS) comprises hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is a major contributor to premature deaths globally. 1,2In this study we present the prevalence of sex-specific risk profiles of CMS in adolescents and adults in South Africa.
METHODS:
This study was a secondary analysis of data from participants aged ≥ 15 years enrolled in the first South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The primary outcome was CMS which was defined as having ≥3 of the following cardiometabolic risk factors: central obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, hypoalphalipoproteinemia, and hyperglycemia. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify latent clusters of these factors amongst the sample.
RESULTS:
5614 participants with a mean (SD) age of 40.23 (18.47) years were interviewed, and majority of them were black African (68.3%) females (65.3%). Among 5370 participants with outcome data, cardiometabolic risk factors were similar between males and females except for mean (95% confidence interval) waist circumference which was higher amongst females (87.0 (75.0-98.9)) than males (77.6 (70.0-89.0)) and systolic blood pressure which was higher amongst males (130 (118.0-143.0)) than females 125 (113-142). Hypoalphalipoproteinemia was the most predominant CMS risk factor, followed by central obesity and hypertriglyceridemia amongst females, and hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension amongst males. LCA identified the following 3 latent classes and posterior class probabilities: high (23.7%), medium (30.8%) and low-risk (45.4%) CMS groups. The high-risk CMS group had elevated conditional probabilities for abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypoalphalipoproteinemia and these varied by gender, with abdominal obesity more pronounced amongst females and hypertriglyceridemia amongst males.
CONCLUSIONS:
Cardiometabolic risk factors tend to cluster together South African adolescents and adults, and clustering patterns vary by gender. Further research needs to be done to understand the gender-specific CMS risk profiles for adolescents and adults so targeted interventions can be developed.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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