CUT OFF VALUES OF WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE AND WAIST-TO-HIP RATIO FOR PREDICTING METABOLIC SYNDROME AMONG POPULATION IN TWO COMMUNES, QUANG DIEN DISTRICT, THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE

Abstract

Background:Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities, characterized as central obesity, dysglycemia, raised blood pressure, elevated triglyceride (TG) level, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. MetS is associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes morbidity and mortality, and all-cause mortality. It is alarming that the prevalence of MetS is high and increasing in both developing and developed nations. Thus, early identification and treatment of individuals with MetS is essential to prevent the adverse consequences related to its development. However, the diagnostic criteria of MetS are complex to conduct, which makes early identification of individuals with MetS challenging. Of these components of MetS, central obesity is considered as the most important component. As an indirect measure of visceral fat, waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are an easy, cost-effective, and non-invasive metric useful for identification of central obesity and, in turn, may be an effective predictor of the risk of metabolic syndrome. However, ethnic and racial variation among populations from different regions warrants different cutoff points to diagnose metabolic syndrome. Objective: To identify the optimal cut off values for waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) for predicting metabolic syndrome (MetS) among population in Quang Dien District, Thua Thien Hue Province. Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out 386 people over 25 years olds chosen from two communities from Quang Dien district by stratified sampling procedure. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the IDF, NHLBI, AHA, WHF, IAS, IASO (2009). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess sensitivity and specificity for different cut off values of WC, WHR. Results: The optimal cut off values for WC for predicting MetS were 87 cm for men (AUC= 0.852, sensitivity = 85.7% and specificity = 83.8%) and 76 cm for women (AUC= 0.871, sensitivity = 85% and specificity = 74.73%). The optimal cut off values for WHR for predicting MetS were 0.9 for men (AUC= 0.823, sensitivity = 85.71% and specificity = 76.15%) and 0.86 for women (AUC= 0.801, sensitivity = 80% and specificity = 66.48%). Conclusion: We propose the optimal cut off point for WC, WHR for the best predictor of MetS as 87 cm, 0.9 in men and 76 cm, 0.86 in women respectively in Quang Dien population. Key words: Metabolic syndrome (MetS), metabolic abnormalities, Quang Dien district