Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Gender differences in the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) have been studied by previous researches. This study aimed to assess influential factors causing gender differences between HRQoL and MetS components using structural equation modelling.

Methods: A sample of 950 adults from TLGS were recruited in this study between 2005 and 2007. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the Iranian version of SF-36. Structural equation modelling was applied to determine the relationships between the constructs of MetS components (MetSCs) and HRQoL within the gender groups.

Results: Based on the primary hypothesis, MetSCs, physical and mental HRQoL were fitted in a model (χ²/df=1.52, RMSEA=0.023, CFI=0.98, and GFI=0.97). The adjusted negative effect of MetSCs on physical HRQoL was significant only in women. The proportion of all the cardio-metabolic risk factors as well as physical domain subscales were higher in women (P<0.05). Among socio-behavioural factors, physical activity in both men (β=3.19, P<0.05) and women (β=3.94, P<0.05), age (β=−3.28, P<0.05) and education (β=2.68, P<0.05) just in women and smoking (β=2.28, P<0.05) just in men directly affected physical HRQoL. Regarding the mental domain, physical activity (β=3.37, P<0.05) and marital status (β=3.44, P<0.05) in women and age (β=2.01, P<0.05) in men were direct effective factors. While age and smoking had a sex-specific indirect effect on the association between physical HRQoL and MetSCs, none of the socio-behavioural factors was found to have a direct effect on this association between men and women significantly.

Conclusion: Structural differences of physical HRQoL and MetSCs as well as different influential patterns of socio-behavioural factors specifically age and smoking seems to have a pivotal role to create this gender differences. Although, the proportion of SBP, WC and bodily pain were the highest in both genders, except for DBP, all the cardio-metabolic risk factors and physical subscales had significant higher proportion in women.