Date of Conferral

4-9-2025

Date of Award

April 2025

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Public Health

Advisor

Joseph Robare

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome is increasing in prevalence in the United States. To be diagnosed, three of the five diagnostic criteria must be met. There is a higher risk of metabolic syndrome due to lifestyle and social factors, with increased criteria occurring as an individual has unmet social determinants of health. This quantitative quasi-experimental/quasi-comparative study examined the association between education level, with sleep quality and depression as moderators, on a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome with all five criteria versus three criteria using a binary logistic regression while controlling for age, race, gender, income, employment, and marital status. Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological theory served as the theoretical framework, using secondary data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, with a sample size of 1,143 non-institutionalized male and female respondents over the age of 18 with metabolic syndrome. Results showed that sleep quality moderates an association between education level and metabolic syndrome criteria with higher education, race, and gender, suggesting socioeconomic status does impact clinical outcomes. Depression did not moderate an association between education level and increased metabolic syndrome criteria, suggesting that not all social factors impact increasing clinical criteria of metabolic syndrome. This study promotes positive social change by highlighting the need to target the demographics impacted by metabolic syndrome and supports the need for improved sleep quality proposed by Health People 2030. Targeting those who are more likely to be affected by metabolic syndrome and highlighting the social determinants of health that put them more at risk is necessary to decrease its ongoing prevalence.

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