cMetS Based on Z-Scores as an Accurate and Efficient Scoring System to Determine Metabolic Syndrome in Spanish Adolescents

Abstract

The definition of metabolic syndrome (MetS) based on dichotomous cut-off points is efficient in the adult population. However, to date, there is no international consensus on how to define MetS in the pediatric population. For that reason, a continuous MetS score (cMetS) has been proposed for the pediatric population. However, despite multiple attempts, cMetS has not been fully validated as there is no agreement about the most accurate score to calculate it. The purpose of the present study was to compare the validity of different scores (three siMS scores, z-score, principal components analysis (PCA), the sum of PCA, and confirmatory factor analysis) to calculate cMetS and determine MetS in Spanish adolescents. There were 981 subjects, ranging 11–16 years old, recruited for this cross-sectional study. Seven different approaches to pediatric cMetS scores were calculated. All cMetS scores calculated strongly correlated with each other, especially siMS scores. The area under the curve obtained from receiving operating characteristic curves was particularly elevated for z-scores 0.81 (95% CI: 0.784–0.838), showing a specificity of 64.4%. Our study shows that cMetS based on z-scores is accurate and efficient to be used for research instead of the dichotomized definition of MetS in adolescents; and cMetS based on siMS scores is useful for clinical practice.

Interplay of Postprandial Triglyceride-Rich Lipoprotein Composition and Adipokines in Obese Adolescents

“…We agree that there is evidence indicating differences in glucose metabolism between sexes in people over 20 years of age. However, we have previously conducted extensive work on large groups of adolescents of the same age as the participants in the present study (12-16 years) and found no such differences in glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR values between boys and girls [13,60]. It is also possible that glucose levels and HOMA-IR values were higher if they had been measured in plasma, but that would have affected both obese and normal-weight groups.…”

Unsupervised identification of cardiometabolic profiles among adolescents: findings from the PARIS birth cohort study

“…Several authors have used a cMetS to avoid potential misclassification [ 25 – 28 ]. According to Fernandez-Aparicio [ 29 ], cardiometabolic risk score based on the z-score is an accurate and efficient method that can be used to determine MetS risk in adolescents. Indeed, a recent meta-analysis [ 30 ] reported a pooled sensitivity and a specificity of cMetS risk scores in predicting the risk of MetS: 0.90 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.83–0.95) and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.83–0.89), respectively.…”