Sagital abdominal diameter, but not waist circumference is strongly associated with glycemia, triacilglycerols and HDL-C levels in overweight adults.

AIM: To correlate the sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) and waist circumference (WC) with metabolic syndrome-associated abnormalities in adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included onehundred twelve adults (M=27, F=85) aging 54.0±11.2 yrs and average body mass index (BMI) of 30.5±9.0 kg/m². The assessment included blood pressure, plasma and anthropometric measurements. RESULTS: In both men and female, SAD and WC were associated positively with body fat% (r=0.53 vs r=0.55), uric acid (r=0.45 vs r=0.45), us-PCR (r=0.50 vs r=0.44), insulin (r=0.89 vs r=0.75), insulin resistance HOMA-IR (r=0.86 vs r=0.65), LDL-ox (r=0.51 vs r=0.28), GGT (r=0.70 vs r=0.61), and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.35 vs r=0.33), and negatively with insulin sensibility QUICKI (r=-0.89 vs r=-0.82) and total cholesterol/TG ratio (r=-0.40 vs r=-0.22). Glycemia, TG, and HDL-c were associated significantly only with SAD (r=0.31; r = 39, r=-0.43, respectively). CONCLUSION: Though the SAD and WC were associated with numerous metabolic abnormalities, only SAD correlated with dyslipidemia (TG and HDL-c) and hyperglycemia (glycemia).

Accuracy of sagittal abdominal diameter as predictor of abdominal fat among Brazilian adults: a comparation with waist circumference.

AIM: We aim was to compare the sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) with waist circumference (WC) as a predictor of central obesity among adults and to identify the sensitivity and specificity of the best cut-off point for SAD. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 266 Brazilians adults (euthrophic and overweight), aged 31-84 years old, of which 89 men and 177 women, was carried out. Anthropometric measurements such as SAD, weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, waist and hip ratio, body mass index, body fat percentage were performed. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve was used to identify the sensitivity and specificity of the best cut off point for SAD as a predictor of central obesity. Statistical analysis were considered significant with a value of p < 0.05. RESULTS: The SAD measurement was positively correlated with WC for both genders, although stronger among overweight and obesity women (r = 0.71; p < 0.001 and r = 0.79; p < 0.001, respectively) than men. ROC curves identified the best cut-off points for SAD of 23.1 cm and 20.1 cm for men and women (96% and 85% sensitivity, 86% and 84% specificity, respectively). CONCLUSION: SAD measurement may be used as an anthropometric tool to identify central obesity among women for presenting adequate sensitivity and specificity.

The use of calf circumference measurement as an anthropometric tool to monitor nutritional status in elderly inpatients.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify the nutritional status of hospitalized elderly and verify if calf circumference can be a tool to monitor nutritional status in this population. METHODS: A total of 170 inpatients (79 men and 91 women) aged more than 60 years were assessed. Anthropometric and dietary assessments were done according to standard procedures. The software STATISTICA 6.0 was used for the statistical analysis. The confidence interval was set at 95% and significance level at 5% (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Body mass index assessment revealed a high rate of underweight patients (45.3%), and arm circumference and triceps skinfold revealed a high prevalence of depletion. Males had more lean mass according to the mid-arm muscle circumference (p=0.017) and mid-arm muscle area (p=0.01), and females presented higher triceps skinfold values (p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between calf circumference and Body Mass Index (p < 0.001), arm circumference (p=0.001), triceps skinfold (p=0.001), mid-arm muscle circumference (p=0.001), and mid-arm muscle area (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: This study found a positive correlation between calf circumference and nutritional status of assessed patients indicating that this measurement can be used as a complementary tool for monitoring the nutritional status of elderly inpatients.