IntroductionRheumatoid arthritis (RA) due to systemic inflammation and insulin resistance increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and reduces life expectancy. In order to develop cardiac death prevention strategies, it is necessary to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in these patients.MethodsThis systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to estimate the prevalence of MetS among patients with RA. International databases (i.e., Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) were searched during the period of October 1 and October 10, 20121. Heterogeneity among the included studies was assessed through the Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 test. Finally, a random-effects meta-analysis model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence of MetS.ResultsSixty-one articles with 96 groups and a sample size of 13,644 people were analyzed. The pooled prevalence of MetS was 32% (95% CI: 29.6–34.4). The highest prevalence of MetS is related to studies conducted in Asia (32.7%, 95% CI: 29–36.3) and Europe (32.7%, 95% CI: 27.5.37.9) and the lowest Prevalence was also related to studies conducted in Africa (28%, 95% CI: 28.8–32.2). The prevalence of MetS in men was 33% (95% CI: 26–39) and 34% (95% CI: 29–40) in women. Findings by diagnostic criteria showed that the highest and lowest prevalence of MetS was related to ATP III (37.5%, 95% CI: 30.9–44.2) and EGIR (14.4%, 95% CI: 10.5–18.5), respectively.ConclusionsMetS is highly prevalent in patients with RA and identification of high-risk patients is necessary to prevent cardiovascular mortality.