The role of pediatric simple metabolic syndrome score and metabolic syndrome severity z-scores in identifying metabolic syndrome among obese adolescents.

Abstract

Background: the aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the pediatric simple metabolic syndrome score (PsiMS) and the metabolic syndrome severity (MetSS) z-score in determining the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in obese adolescents, as well as to assess their correlation with metabolic variables and establish diagnostic cut-offs for MetS.

Materials and methods: this prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at two medical centers from March 2024 to June 2024, including a total of 246 obese adolescents.

Results: obese adolescents diagnosed with MetS exhibited notably elevated PsiMS and MetSS z-score values. Significant positive correlations were identified between the PsiMS and BMI z-score, total cholesterol, gamma-glutamyl transferase, uric acid, insulin levels, and the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). Positive relationships were also observed between the MetSS z-score and hip circumference, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, uric acid, insulin, HOMA-IR, and the PsiMS. The PsiMS demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.753 with a threshold of 4.5242, resulting in sensitivity and specificity values of 68.2 % and 68.4 %, respectively. The MetSS z-score exhibited an AUC of 0.885 with a threshold of 1.1145, yielding sensitivity and specificity values of 80.7 % and 80.4 %, respectively. The comparison of AUC values between the PsiMS and MetSS z-scores was statistically significant.

Conclusion: our findings indicate that the rates of MetS diagnosis using the PsiMS and MetSS z-scores-both continuous metrics for assessing MetS-were significantly higher in adolescents compared to those identified through traditional dichotomous diagnostic methods.