Correlation of anthropometric indices with risk factors for diabetes and dyslipidemia in an adult population in Shanghai

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the correlation between anthropometric indices and diabetes and dyslipidemia in Chinese adults. Methods A total of 14 336 participants with complete data from Shanghai Adults Diabetes Epidemiology Study during 2002 to 2003 were recruited. The correlation between body mass index(BMI), waist circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-height ratio (WHtR) and blood glucose and lipids were analyzed; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and the best cut-off point of the four indicators for diabetes and hyperlipidemia were compared; multi-variable logistic regression analysis was also conducted. Results All anthropometric (BMI, waist circumference, WHR and WHtR) indices were closely correlated with blood glucose and lipid levels(partial correlation coefficient 0.034-0.261, P<0.01), which were not affected by gender and age. Compared with other anthropometric indicators, WHtR was found to have the largest area under the ROC curve (0.712 for diabetes and 0.642 for hyperlipidemia), and the best cut-off points of diabetes and hyperlipidemia were 0.51 and 0.49, respectively. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis showed WHtR had the highest degree of association with diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia (OR=1.67, 2.0 and 1.53). Conclusion There is a close relationship between anthropometric indices and diabetes and lipid metabolic disorder in adult population of Shanghai. WHtR can serve as an important indicator of screening assessment. Key words: Diabetes mellitus; Lipid metabolism disorders; Anthropometry; Waist-height ratio