Abstract: Objective To investigate the major risk factors for hypertension as a component of metabolic syndrome in permanent residents in Beijing. Methods Randomized sampling was performed on permanent residents over 18 years of age who are from a multistage group in 2005 in Beijing. In this study there were 16 711 valid participants selected for the multilevel binomial logistic model. Results The major risk factors for hypertension of metabolic syndrome included gender, age, educational level, occupation, smoking, alcohol, central obesity, snacks, oil and salt intakes. People who were cigarette smokers, alcohol drinkers, male, at advanced age, and who have lower educational level, high pressure occupation, and central obesity, less snack food intake, more edible oil intake and more salt intake were more likely to have metabolic syndrome. When the other factors stayed still, the prevalence in men was higher than in women. Conclusion Multilevel binomial logistic models have higher accuracy than traditional multiple regression models in determining major risk factors for hypertension as a component of metabolic syndrome.

Key words: metabolic syndrome, hypertension, multilevel binomial logistic model, risk factors