Association of RBC count and Hct with MS and its components in China rural population

Due to the abnormal hemorheology in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS), some differences may exhibit in erythrocyte parameters. This cross-sectional study was to determine whether the red blood cell (RBC) count and hematocrit (Hct) were associated with MS in China rural area. We selected 11,191 (5170 males and 6021 females) subjects over 35 years. MS was defined according to the revised ATPIII criteria. We used Student’s t test to compare the erythrocyte parameters between normal and MS groups. We also assessed the erythrocyte parameters for different MS component numbers. A partial correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationship between erythrocyte parameters and each MS component. The RBC counts and Hct were generally higher in MS/component groups than normal groups for both genders. The RBC counts and Hct increased with the increasing MS component numbers. The partial correlation coefficients between erythrocyte parameters and waist circumference (WC) were bigger than other components (RBC count: r = 0.258 for male and r = 0.218 for female, p < 0.001; Hct: r = 0.209 for male and r = 0.149 for female, p < 0.001). RBC count and Hct were positively related with MS/component for both genders. They were more associated with WC and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) than with other MS components.