Introduction:

Metabolic Syndrome (SM) is considered a global epidemic. The increase of its prevalence is widely extended in both industrialized and developing countries and is the outcome of a rise in the proportion of obesity and sedentary lifestyle in the population. The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of SM and associated factors in transport drivers of Tunja in the year 2017.

Materials and Methods:

An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 115 inter-municipal transportation drivers in the city of Tunja, evaluating anthropometric indexes, glycemia, triglycerides, HDL and the IPAQ international physical activity questionnaire was applied. The presence of SM evaluatio followed the NCEP/ATP III criteria, the prevalence ratio was found, and Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to determine the significance.

Results:

A prevalence of 10.4% (12/115; IC 95% 4.6-15.7) was found with significant differences between the patients with and without SM in relation with hypertension (p = 0.03), glucose levels (p = 0.0004), triglycerides (p < 0.001), HDL (p = 0.00004), abdominal perimeter (p = 0.008) and body mass index (p = 0.001).

Conclusion:

In this population of drivers, hypertriglyceridemia was the altogether criteria among those with metabolic syndrome as well as an observed trend towards overweight and obesity, which determines the importance of generating information, education and communication programs aimed at these populations to promote healthy eating and physical activity.

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