Abstract 14854: Optimal Cut-off Points of Waist Circumference for Detecting Central Obesity and Severe Central Obesity in Chinese Adults

Abstract

Introduction: Given that no consensus has yet been reached over the optimal cut-off points of waist circumference (WC) for Chinese, this study aimed to determine the appropriate cut-off points of WC for detecting central obesity and severe central obesity in a Chinese adult population. Methods: Data from the cross-sectional survey of the PRC-USA Collaborative study of Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Epidemiology in 1993-1994 was used, including 10265 subjects (4921 men and 5344 women) aged 35-69 years. Each integer of WC in centimeters was used as the cut-off point to detect clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, which was defined as the presence of two or more risk factors among hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Based on the Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the WC value corresponding to the point on the ROC curve nearest to the upper left corner of the ROC graph was considered the optimal cut-off for central obesity and the value corresponding to the point with specificity of 90% or more was considered the optimal cut-off for severe central obesity. Results: The optimal cut-off value of WC to detect clustering of risk factors was ≥84 cm for men and was ≥80 cm for women with the shortest distance to the upper left corner being 0.4304 and 0.4504, respectively. The cut-off values of WC with specificity above 90% were ≥93 cm and ≥91 cm for men and women respectively. Conclusions: These results were equal or similar to the WC cut-off points proposed by the Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Overweight and Obesity in Chinese Adults, i.e., ≥85/80 cm (men/women) for increased risk for obesity related diseases and ≥95/90 cm (men/women) for much higher risk. For practical reasons, WC≥85/80 cm and ≥95/90 cm (men/women) could be the optimal cut-off values for detecting central obesity and severe central obesity, respectively, in Chinese adult population.