Good Indicator Of Risk Research Articles

A National Survey on the Relationship of Youth Sport Specialization Behaviors to Self-Reported Anxiety and Depression in Youth Softball Players.

There are little to no data on whether any associations exist between sport specialization and mental health in youth softball athletes. Highly specialized youth softball athletes will have worse self-reported depression and anxiety symptom scores compared with low and moderate specialized athletes. Cross-sectional survey. Level 4. An online cross-sectional survey was distributed in the fall of 2021 to a national sample of female youth softball athletes between the ages of 12 and 18 years. Sport specialization status was determined using a 3-point specialization scale that classifies either low, moderate, or high. The patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the 7-item general anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7) were used to assess self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Comparison also included sports participation and specialization behaviors between specialization groups. A total of 1283 subjects (mean age, 15.1 ± 1.7 years) fully completed the survey. After adjusting for covariates, lower scores were reported on both the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 by highly specialized athletes compared with moderate or low specialization athletes (PHQ-9, high = 8.6 ± 0.4; moderate = 11.2 ± 0.3; low = 10.9 ± 0.5; P < 0.01; GAD-7, high = 6.5 ± 0.4; moderate = 8.6 ± 0.3; low = 8.4 ± 0.4, P < 0.01). Conversely, higher scores were reported on both scales for athletes who received private softball coaching compared with those who did not (PHQ-9, 11.5 ± 0.3 vs 9.0 ± 0.3; P < 0.01; GAD-7, 8.8 ± 0.3 vs 6.9 ± 0.3, P < 0.01). Finally, athletes who reported an arm overuse injury in the previous year reported higher PHQ-9 scores (10.8 ± 0.3 vs 9.8 ± 0.3; P < 0.01). While sport specialization, as measured by the validated 3-point scale, was not associated with increased anxiety and depression symptom scores, other aspects of specialization behavior such as private coaching or overuse injury history were associated with worse scores on these scales, indicating potential concern for anxiety and depression. However, although the differences we observed were statistically significant, they did not exceed the minimal clinically important difference values that have been established for the PHQ-9 (5 points) or GAD-7 (4 points). This project is a first step toward understanding the sport specialization behaviors and their influence on the mental health of youth softball athletes. Focusing on investigating specialization behaviors further may reveal to be a better indicator of risk of developing anxiety and depression symptoms compared with utilizing the 3-point specialization scale.

Microbial diversity in the vaginal microbiota and its link to pregnancy outcomes

The vaginal microbiota refers to the microorganisms that reside in the vagina. These microorganisms contribute significantly to a woman’s reproductive and general health. A healthy vaginal microbiota is typically a low-diversity environment with a predominance of lactic acid-producing Lactobacillus species. Factors such as antibiotic use, sexual activity, and hormonal changes can disrupt the balance of the vaginal microbiota, leading to conditions such as bacterial vaginosis. The composition of the vaginal microbiota changes and takes on added importance during pregnancy, serving as a barrier against infection for both mother and fetus. Despite the importance of the microorganisms that colonize the vagina, details of how changes in composition and diversity can impact pregnancy outcomes is poorly understood. This is especially true for woman with a high prevalence of Gardnerella vaginalis. Here we report on a diverse cohort of 749 women, enrolled in the InSPIRe cohort, during their final trimester of pregnancy. We show that Lactobacilli, including L. crispatus are important in maintaining low diversity, and that depletion in this critical community is linked with preterm delivery. We further demonstrate that it is overall diversity of the vaginal microbiota, not specific species, which provides the best indicator of risk.

Identification and characterization of relapse-initiating cells in MLL-rearranged infant ALL by single-cell transcriptomics

Infants with MLL-rearranged infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (MLL-r iALL) undergo intense therapy to counter a highly aggressive malignancy with survival rates of only 30–40%. The majority of patients initially show therapy response, but in two-thirds of cases the leukemia returns, typically during treatment. The glucocorticoid drug prednisone is established as a major player in the treatment of leukemia and the in vivo response to prednisone monotreatment is currently the best indicator of risk for MLL-r iALL. We used two different single-cell RNA sequencing technologies to analyze the expression of a prednisone-dependent signature, derived from an independent study, in diagnostic bone marrow and peripheral blood biopsies. This allowed us to classify individual leukemic cells as either resistant or sensitive to treatment and show that quantification of these two groups can be used to better predict the occurrence of future relapse in individual patients. This work also sheds light on the nature of the therapy-resistant subpopulation of relapse-initiating cells. Leukemic cells associated with high relapse risk are characterized by basal activation of glucocorticoid response, smaller size, and a quiescent gene expression program with cell stemness properties. These results improve current risk stratification and elucidate leukemic therapy-resistant subpopulations at diagnosis.

Novel radiographic hip fat thickness ratio correlates with early re-operation following total hip arthroplasty.

Obesity is thought to lead to increased failure rates following total hip arthroplasty (THA). Site-specific fat distribution has been suggested to be a better indicator of risk, compared to body mass index. Fat thickness measurement methods were developed for total knee arthroplasty, however, there is limited data on the methods for THA. The aim of this study was to assess the interobserver and intraobserver reliability of a newly defined radiographic subcutaneous fat thickness ratio and investigate the correlation of this ratio with early failure following THA. 321 patients who underwent primary THA at a single institution between 2014 and 2017, with at least 1-year of follow-up and a preoperative pelvis anteroposterior x-ray radiograph were included in this study. A high hip fat thickness ratio (HFTR) was arbitrarily defined as ⩾2. Early failure was defined as revision or re-operation for any reason and death related to operation first year following THA. The HFTR was shown to have excellent intraobserver and interobserver reliability. High HFTR was associated with higher risk of early failure following THA (odds ratio 3.8, [95% confidence interval, 1.2-12.1], p < 0.05). The same association persisted when HFTR was analysed as a continuous variable (p < 0.01) and in multivariate analysis (p < 0.05). HFTR can be used to assess periarticular soft tissue distribution and may be regarded as a useful and reproducible tool for assessing risk of early failure following THA.

Practical learnings from an epidemiology study on TDI-related occupational asthma: Part II-Exposure without respiratory protection to TWA-8 values indicative of peak events is a good indicator of risk.

The anonymized data of an epidemiology study on the incidence of toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-related occupational asthma in three US-based TDI production facilities have been reanalyzed to identify where to best focus exposure reduction efforts in industrial practice in order to reduce the risk of sensitization to TDI. In Part I, it was demonstrated that cumulative exposure is not a good indicator of the risk of developing TDI-related occupational asthma. In this Part II, an alternative model was developed based on net exposure parameters (i.e. samples taken when no respiratory protection was used). A statistically significant relationship was determined between asthma incidence and the frequency of exposure to TDI levels indicative of peak events that are expressed as time-weighted average-8 (TWA-8) values greater than 3 ppb during which no respiratory protection was used. This relationship suggests a threshold to induction of TDI-related asthma. The findings also highlight the importance of a comprehensive program for controlling workplace atmosphere in the plant by technical measures (e.g. selection of equipment, cleaning procedures) and controlling exposure by organizational measures and situational awareness (e.g. training, use of in-the-field direct reading indicators) during high potential exposure scenarios (e.g. line breaking, spills) to encourage or enforce the appropriate use of respiratory protection.

Association Between Lipid Accumulation Product and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Diabetes may increase the risk of conversion of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia. Lipid accumulation product (LAP), an index of visceral obesity, has been shown to be a powerful predictor of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, little attention has been paid to the relationship between LAP and MCI in T2D. We aimed to investigate the association between the LAP index and MCI in patients with T2D. In total, 220 hospitalized patients with T2D, including 113 MCI patients and 107 patients with normal cognition, were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. We collected demographic, anthropometric, and biochemical data on each subject. The LAP index was calculated according to the following formulas: [waist circumference (WC) (cm) - 65]×triglyceride (TG) (mmol/L) for males and [WC (cm) - 58] ×TG (mmol/L) for females. Compared with patients with normal cognition, MCI patients were older and had a higher LAP index, WC, body mass index, and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c level, as well as a lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment score and education level (p < 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, LAP index was associated with MCI (OR = 1.047, 95% CI = 1.031-1.063, p < 0.01). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the LAP index was higher than that for WC and BMI. A high LAP index is associated with an increased risk of MCI in T2D patients. The LAP index appears to be a good indicator of risk of MCI in patients with T2D.

Practical learnings from an epidemiology study on TDI-related occupational asthma: Part I-Cumulative exposure is not a good indicator of risk.

The anonymized data of an epidemiology study on incidence of toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-related occupational asthma in three US-based TDI production facilities have been reanalyzed to identify where to best focus exposure reduction efforts in industrial practice to reduce the risk of sensitization to TDI. Since the induction of sensitization has sometimes been attributed to cumulative exposure, this relationship was examined first. Gross cumulative exposure values (i.e. not taking into account whether respiratory protection was used or not) and net cumulative exposure values (i.e. accounting for the use of respiratory protection) per participant were calculated based on the duration of their study participation and the average time-weighted average value of the exposure group to which they belonged. These two sets of cumulative exposure data were compared with asthma incidence using logistic regression. Incidence was zero among workers who rarely come into contact with open plant systems (e.g. during maintenance or spills). Notwithstanding, no statistically significant relationship between asthma incidence and either gross or net cumulative exposure could be determined. This is shown to be consistent with the results of several other epidemiology studies on TDI-related occupational asthma. In conclusion, cumulative exposure values are not a good indicator of the risk of developing TDI-related occupational asthma.

The association between body fat and musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundObesity and musculoskeletal pain are strongly related, but there is emerging evidence that body fat, not body weight, may be a better indicator of risk. There is, therefore, a need to determine if body fat is associated with musculoskeletal pain as it may improve management strategies. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the association between body fat and musculoskeletal pain.MethodsSeven electronic databases were searched from inception to 8th January 2018. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies investigating the association between measures of body fat and musculoskeletal pain were included. All included articles were assessed for methodological rigour using the Epidemiology Appraisal Instrument. Standardised mean differences (SMDs) and effect estimates were pooled for meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 10,221 citations were identified through the database searching, which after abstract and full-text review, yielded 28 unique articles. Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analyses, which found significant cross-sectional associations between total body fat mass and widespread pain (SMD 0.49, 95% CI 0.37–0.61, p < 0.001). Individuals with low-back pain and knee pain had a higher body fat percentage than asymptomatic controls (SMD 0.34, 95% CI 0.17–0.52, p < 0.001 and SMD 0.18, 95% CI 0.05–0.32, p = 0.009, respectively). Fat mass index was significantly, albeit weakly, associated with foot pain (SMD 0.05, 95% CI 0.03–0.06, p < 0.001). Longitudinal studies (n = 8) were unsuitable for meta-analysis, but were largely indicative of elevated body fat increasing the risk of incident and worsening joint pain. There was conflicting evidence for an association between body fat percentage and incident low-back pain (3 studies, follow-up 4–20 years). Increasing knee pain (1 study) and incident foot pain (2 studies) were positively associated with body fat percentage and fat mass index. The percentage of items in the EAI graded as ‘yes’ for each study ranged from 23 to 85%, indicating variable methodological quality of the included studies.ConclusionsThis systematic review and meta-analysis identified positive cross-sectional associations between increased body fat and widespread and single-site joint pain in the low-back, knee and foot. Longitudinal studies suggest elevated body fat may infer increased risk of incident and worsening joint pain, although further high-quality studies are required.

Exploring Thematic Nightmare Content and Associated Self-Harm Risk.

Nightmares have been shown to be robust predictors of self-harm risk, beyond depressive symptoms and hopelessness at times. However, few studies have investigated associations between nightmare content and increased self-harm risk. This study explored associations of thematic nightmare content with history of self-harm, and risk of self-harm phenomena the morning following a nightmare. A mixed-method diary study was performed. Prospective nightmare reports were obtained from 72 participants. A total of 47 nightmare reports met inclusion criteria and were analyzed for themes using inductive thematic analysis. Chi-square and bootstrap Pearson's correlation tests were performed to assess the associations between nightmare themes and self-harm history, and risk of self-harm phenomena following a nightmare. "Powerlessness to Change Behavior" was associated with a history of self-harm engagement, whereas "Financial Hardship" indicated reduced risk. Themes were not significantly associated with increased risk of self-harm phenomena following a nightmare. Content may be of use in detecting lifetime history of self-harm engagement, particularly in populations where disclosure is seen as taboo. However, nightmare symptom severity remains a better indicator of risk. Evidence for the utility of nightmare content in assessing immediate self-harm risk is presently lacking. Replication with increased power is recommended.

Lipoprotein particle number and size predict vascular structure and function better than traditional lipids in adolescents and young adults

In adults, dyslipidemia is associated with higher carotid thickness and arterial stiffness, predictors of cardiovascular events. In young subjects, lipid concentrations have not been consistently associated with vascular measures. The objective of the study was to compare nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measures of lipoprotein particle number (low-density lipoprotein [LDL] particle, low-density lipoprotein [HDL] particle, very low-density lipoprotein [VLDL] particle) and size (LDL size, HDL size, and VLDL size) to determine if they were associated with vascular measures more strongly than lipid concentrations (LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride [TG]). We evaluated 214 lean (L), 228 obese (O), and 214 diabetic (T2DM) subjects aged 10 to 24years (33% male and 39% Caucasian). Cardiovascular risk factors, vascular structure, and arterial stiffness were measured. General linear models were constructed including demographics, risk factors, and traditional or NMR lipid parameters. A composite vascular function score was developed as the outcome in receiver operator characteristic scores for determining which lipid parameter was superior in predicting vascular damage. Risk factors worsened from L to O to T. However, LDL cholesterol was similar in O and T, whereas LDL size differentiated the 3 groups (T>O>L, P≤.0001). Models demonstrated the superiority of NMR values, which entered for all but 1 vascular outcome and explained more of the variance than traditional lipid concentrations. Receiver operator characteristic curves demonstrated that NMR values were superior in predicting vascular outcomes. Models stratified by race were similar but cutpoints predicting vascular outcomes differed by race for TG, TG/HDL, and VLDL. Lipoprotein particle number and size are more strongly related to vascular structure and function than traditional lipid values. NMR lipid measures may be a better indicator of risk for target organ damage than traditional lipid measures in adolescents and young adults.

Correlation between Body Mass Index, Waist-Hip Ratio and Menstrual Abnormalities

Objectives: To determine the correlation between Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) and Menstrual Abnormalities. Materials and Methods: The method adopted was Descriptive Cross-sectional study. 100 women between the ages 18-40 attending Saveetha Medical and Hospital gynecology OPD were interviewed and history regarding their menstrual cycles and abnormalities if present were recorded. BMI and Waist- Hip ratio was calculated and compared with similar studies based on menstrual abnormalities. The responses were collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical tools for parametric and non – parametric data with the help of SPSS for Windows version 20 software. Findings: BMI showed that 52% subjects fell under the overweight/obese category while the WHR showed that 79% of the population fell under the category of obese. Also, 76.9% of those who were normal by BMI were found to have high WHR indicating the presence of abdominal obesity despite having a normal overall body mass. Among these members with normal BMI but high WHR, 55% of them had menstrual abnormalities. This data indicates the proportion of at risk women who would have been missed if BMI alone was considered as an indicator of obesity and consequent poor health. Menstrual abnormalities among both abdominally obese and overall obese individuals were amenorrhea-34.1%, 28.6% and oligomeonorrhea – 29.5%, 33.33% respectively. 50% individuals having early menarche perceived their bodies to be obese at time of menarche, and 87% those who had early menarche now had abdominal obesity. These findings correlate with the observations made by other studies implicating abdominal obesity to be more predictive of poor health than BM while drawing attention to the percentage of cases that could be potentially missed by using BMI as an indicative tool. Application: This study emphasizes that WHR is a better indicator of risk of menstrual disorders occurring because of obesity. Awareness about a good Waist-Hip ratio should be increased among women of reproductive age group (15-44 yrs.) and clinicians.

Waist-HIP-ratio, a better indicator of risk of myocardial infarction than BMI in a mediterranean southern European population

Aims: To analyse measures of adiposity and risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in a Mediterranean European Population. Methods: A total of 308 MI cases and 437 controls from the Maltese Acute Myocardial Infarction (MAMI) study had hip and waist circumferences measured per WHO guidelines. BMI and Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) were analysed using WHO cutoffs. Odds ratios adjusted for common risk factors (adjOR) were calculated. Differences between groups were evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: A similar median BMI between male cases and controls (29.2, 28.7, p =0.05) and a similar prevalence of obesity (41.4%, 38.2%) resulted in an AdjOR of 1.2 (95%CI 0.6-2.4). AdjOR was similar in females despite a higher prevalence of obesity in cases (52.9%, N=37) than in controls (32.8%, N=45). Waist circumference (0.94, 1.00, p<0.001) and WHR (1.00, 0.95, p<0.001) were higher in male cases than controls giving an adjOR of 2.6 (95% CI 1.7-4.1) and 6.4 (95% CI, 3.0-14.0) respectively. 95.6% (N=237) of cases had a high Waist-Hip Ratio compared to 73.5% (n=228) of controls. Females showed similar results. Amongst all controls, 23.5% (N=20) of normal BMI controls and 59% (N=111) of overweight controls had a high WHR. Conversely, 21.3% (N=35) of obese individuals had a normal WHR. A stratified analysis of WHR and BMI shows elevated AdjOR only in groups with high WHR. Conclusion: BMI had no predictive value while WHR had a high predictive value for MI in the Maltese Population. BMI miscategorises high WHR individuals as being normal or overweight underestimating their risk.

Australian hip surveillance guidelines for children with cerebral palsy: 5-year review.

To ensure hip surveillance guidelines reflect current evidence of factors influencing hip displacement in children with cerebral palsy (CP). A three-step review process was undertaken: (1) systematic literature review, (2) analysis of hip surveillance databases, and (3) national survey of orthopaedic surgeons managing hip displacement in children with CP. Fifteen articles were included in the systematic review. Quantitative analysis was not possible. Qualitative review indicated hip surveillance programmes have decreased the incidence of hip dislocation in populations with CP. The Gross Motor Function Classification System was confirmed as the best indicator of risk for displacement, and evidence was found of hip displacement occurring at younger ages and in young adulthood. Femoral geometry, pelvic obliquity, and scoliosis were linked to progression of hip displacement. A combined data pool of 3366 children from Australian hip surveillance databases supported the effectiveness of the 2008 Consensus Statement to identify hip displacement early. The survey of orthopaedic surgeons supported findings of the systematic review and database analyses. This review rationalized changes to the revised and renamed Australian Hip Surveillance Guidelines for Children with Cerebral Palsy 2014, informing frequency of radiographic examination in lower risk groups and continuation of surveillance into adulthood for adolescents with identified risk factors.

Estudio paramétrico de tensiones hemodinámicas en modelos de aneurismas de aorta abdominal

The aim of this study is to assess how the shape of the abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) affects the hemodynamic wall stresses. With this purpose, different AAAs are studied through simplified models based on geometrical parameters of the aneurism such as its maximum and minimum diameter, length and asymmetry. Then, a computational fluid dynamics analysis is performed on the simplified models in order to compute pressure and wall shear stresses on the aneurysm sac. The results obtained show that blood pressure is the main dynamic load acting on the artery wall, and that the morphology of the aneurysm could be a good indicator of risk of failure. Furthermore, the computational results are compared with patient-specific real models with the objective to assess the reliability of the proposed simplified approach.

Age-specific bone tumour incidence rates are governed by stem cell exhaustion influencing the supply and demand of progenitor cells

Knudson's carcinogenic model, which simulates incidence rates for retinoblastoma, provides compelling evidence for a two-stage mutational process. However, for more complex cancers, existing multistage models are less convincing. To fill this gap, I hypothesize that neoplasms preferentially arise when stem cell exhaustion creates a short supply of progenitor cells at ages of high proliferative demand. To test this hypothesis, published datasets were employed to model the age distribution of osteochondroma, a benign lesion, and osteosarcoma, a malignant one. The supply of chondrogenic stem-like cells in femur growth plates of children and adolescents was evaluated and compared with the progenitor cell demand of longitudinal bone growth. Similarly, the supply of osteoprogenitor cells from birth to old age was compared with the demands of bone formation. Results show that progenitor cell demand-to-supply ratios are a good risk indicator, exhibiting similar trends to the unimodal and bimodal age distributions of osteochondroma and osteosarcoma, respectively. The hypothesis also helps explain Peto's paradox and the finding that taller individuals are more prone to cancers and have shorter lifespans. The hypothesis was tested, in the manner of Knudson, by its ability to convincingly explain and demonstrate, for the first time, a bone tumour's bimodal age-incidence curve.

The number of metabolic syndrome components is a good risk indicator for both early- and late-stage kidney damage

Background and aimsRenal hyperfiltration (early-stage kidney damage) and hypofiltration (late-stage kidney damage) are common in populations at high risk of chronic kidney disease. This study investigated the associations of renal hyperfiltration and hypofiltration with the number of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components. Methods and resultsThe study subjects included 205 382 people aged 40–74 years who underwent Specific Health Checkups in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The prevalence of renal hyperfiltration [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) above the age-/sex-specific 95th percentile] and hypofiltration (eGFR below the 5th percentile) was compared according to the number of MetS components. We found that the prevalence of both hyperfiltration and hypofiltration increased with increasing number of MetS components (odds ratios for hyperfiltration: 1.20, 1.40, 1.42, 1.41, and 1.77; odds ratios for hypofiltration: 1.07, 1.25, 1.57, 1.89, and 2.21 for one, two, three, four, and five components, respectively, compared with no MetS components). These associations were observed in both normal weight [body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m2] and overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) subjects. Renal hyperfiltration was associated with prehypertension and prediabetes, while hypofiltration was associated with dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, overt hypertension, and overt diabetes. ConclusionThe number of MetS components is a good risk indicator of early- and late-stage kidney damage. Therefore, kidney function should be monitored in subjects with MetS components. MetS components should be treated as early as possible to prevent the development of kidney damage and cardiovascular diseases in people with hyperfiltration, regardless of their body weight.

A Risk Weighted Approach Designed to Manage Bond Exposures in a Low Interest Rate Environment

Risk-based investing techniques such as risk parity are encountering market conditions no longer as favorable as in the past. Their principal weakness is the implicit assumption that the volatility of an asset is a fair quantification of investment risk. As a result, low volatility assets are assigned higher portfolio weights. In the case of bonds however, realized volatility is not a good indicator of risk in a low or rising interest rate environment. An approach that treats bonds on the basis of low historical volatility is therefore possibly building significant tail risk in its portfolios. In this paper, we propose an alternative risk-weighted approach to portfolio construction that enables investors to account for hidden risks in low volatility securities.

Determination of WHtR Limit for Predicting Hyperglycemia in Obese Persons by Using Artificial Neural Network

The abdominal obesity is strongly associated with increased risk of obesity-related cardiometabolic disturbances. The proportion of waist circumference and body height, known as waist-toheight ratio (WHtR), has been shown as a good risk indicator related with abdominal obesity. This paper presents a solution based on artificial neural networks (ANN) for determining WHtR limit for predicting hyperglycemia in obese persons. ANN inputs are body mass index (BMI) and glycemia (GLY), and output is weist-to-height ratio (WHtR). ANN training and testing are done by dataset that includes 1281 persons.

Does the Body Mass Index Reflect Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Brazilian Children?

This cross-sectional study aimed to: (i) investigate whether obesity and overweight defined according to body mass index (BMI) are good predictors of body fat excess, abdominal adiposity and hypertension in 769 Brazilian children aged 6-11 years, (ii) assess the relationship between overweight/obesity and cardiovascular risk factors. Overweight and obesity were estimated using cut-off points corresponding to World Health Organization 1 and 2 SD (standard deviation) scores. Based on the results of a multiple logistic regression analysis, overweight and obesity were significantly associated with body fat excess, abdominal adiposity and hypertension. The prevalence of obesity (10.7%), overweight (18.7%), abdominal adiposity (17.6%) and systolic (10.1%) and diastolic hypertension (9.3%) was high in this population of Brazilian children. The cardiovascular risk factors increased significantly according to the BMI SD scores, indicating that in epidemiologic studies, BMI may be a good indicator of risk for cardiovascular diseases.

Waist circumference, body mass index, serum uric acid, blood sugar, and triglyceride levels are important risk factors for abnormal liver function tests in the Taiwanese population

Several studies have found that metabolic syndrome and uric acid level are related to abnormal liver function test results. The aim of this study was to explore the associations of risk factors [including blood pressure, blood sugar, total cholesterol, triglyceride, uric acid, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) measurements] with abnormal liver function in the Taiwanese population.In total, 11,411 Taiwanese adults were enrolled in this study. Blood pressure was assessed according to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure criteria, fasting blood sugar level according to the Bureau of Health Promotion, Department of Health, R.O.C., criteria, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels according to the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, BMI according to the Asia-Pacific criteria, and waist circumference according to the Revised Diagnostic Criteria of Metabolic Syndrome in Taiwan. The prevalence of a past history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus was 17.7% and 6.5%, respectively, and the rates of abnormal measurements of blood pressure, BMI, waist circumference, fasting blood sugar, triglyceride, total cholesterol, uric acid (male/female), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were 76.2%, 67.6%, 40.0%, 28.6%, 30.6%, 57.3%, 37.9%/21.9%, 14.6% and 21.3%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that waist circumference, BMI, serum uric acid, blood sugar, and triglyceride levels were related to abnormal AST and ALT (p<0.05), but the odds ratio for waist circumference was larger than that for BMI. In conclusion, waist circumference, BMI, serum uric acid, blood sugar, and triglyceride levels are important risk factors for abnormal AST and ALT readings in Taiwanese adults. Waist circumference might be a better indicator of risk of abnormal liver function than BMI.