Contrast and efficacy of waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in predicting central obesity / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the efficacy of waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in predicting central obesity among the Chinese adult population.Methods A total of 30 630 participants aged 35-59 from different areas in mainland China were surveyed for the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in two independent cross-sectional studies that were carried out in 1992-1994 and 1998,respectively.In subgroups with different heights,consistency analysis for central obesity diagnosed by WHtR (≥0.50) and WC (≥85 cm for men,≥80 cm for women) were conducted.Sensitivity and specificity for predicting the clustering of risk factors (number ≥2) would include hypertension,abnormal glucose,high serum total cholesterol and low serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol and they were also calculated to evaluate the efficacy of prediction,with the two indices in the different height subgroups as well.Results The consistency of diagnosis on central obesity by WC and WHtR was good in the whole population (the Kappa value was 0.805 in men and 0.816 in women),but poor (all Kappa values ≤0.6) for those with tall (men's height ≥ 180 cm and women' s height ≥ 170 cm) or with short statures (men' s height ＜ 160 cm,and women's height ＜ 150 cm).Sensitivity in the shorty subgroups and specificity in the tall subgroups appeared poor in both genders,by using WC criteria to predict the clustering of risk factors.However,the sensitivity (ranged from 56.1％ to 64.1％ for men and 64.7％ to 73.2％ for women) and specificity (from 70.0％ to 74.5％ for men,59.2％ to 75.9％ for women) seemed good and stable in all the subgroups as well as in both genders by using the WHtR criteria.Conclusion WC and WHtR could both be applied in predicting the clustering of risk factors of CVD and in evaluating the central obesity in the whole population.With satisfactory efficacy,WHtR seemed to be better than WC in the prediction of central obesity,both in men or women with tall or short statures.