Background The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) increased recently and there was still not a screening index to predict MetS.The aim of this study was to estimate whether brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPVVV),a novel marker for systemic arterial stiffness,could predict MetS in Chinese community population.Methods A total of 2 191 participants were recruited and underwent medical examination including 1 455 men and 756 women from June 2011 to January 2012.MetS was diagnosed according to the criteria of the Intational Diabetes Federation (IDF).Multiple Logistic regressions were conducted to explore the risk factors of MetS.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to estimate the ideal diagnostic cutoff point of baPWV to predict MetS.Results The mean age was (45.35±8.27) years old.In multiple Logistic regression analysis,the gender,baPWV and smoking status were risk factors to MetS after adjusting age,gender,baPWV,walk time and sleeping time.The prevalence of MetS was 17.48％ in 30-year age population in Shanghai.There were significant differences (X2=96.46,P ＜0.05) between male and female participants on MetS prevalence.According to the ROC analyses,the ideal cutoff point of baPWV was 1 358.50 cm/s (AUC=60.20％) to predict MetS among male group and 1 350.00 cm/s (AUC=70.90％) among female group.Conclusion BaPWV may be considered as a screening marker to predict MetS in community Chinese population and the diagnostic value of 1 350.00 cm/s was more significant for the female group.