A study of the correlation of waist circumference with metabolic risks among non-obese populations

H.-Y. Chen, J. Su, H. Liu

Department of Endocrinology, Luoyang Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Luoyang, P.R. China. yk25r2@163.com

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• Metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation of waist circumference with metabolic risks among non-obese populations.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted for the clinical information of 13,145 non-obese subjects who received physical examinations in the hospital from January 2015 to January 2018. Among them, 1,971 subjects were definitely diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome and set as the metabolic disorder group, with the remaining 11,174 cases as the control group. All metabolism-related indicators were compared between the patients in the two groups, the analysis was performed for the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome in patients with different waist circumference as well as males and females with different waist circumferences. Finally, the optimal cut-off points of waist circumference were determined.
RESULTS: According to the comparison, there were no statistically significant differences in subjects with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and total cholesterol between the metabolic disorder group and the control group (p>0.05). The subjects in the metabolic disorder group had higher waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, triglyceride, fasting insulin, fasting blood glucose, and insulin resistance index than those in the control group, displaying statistically significant differences (p<0.05). When waist circumference was more than 70 cm, as it increased, the prevalence rates of diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome gradually elevated. When waist circumference was 60-90 cm, hypertension took the leading place in metabolic disorders, so did the metabolic syndrome and diabetes, with a waist circumference of more than 90 cm. There were no remarkable differences in the prevalence rates of diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome among male and female patients with different waist circumferences ((p>0.05). The patients with the waist circumference of over 90 cm exhibited gradually declined prevalence rates of diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome, while those in the patients with a waist circumference of 60-90 cm were gradually increased. The optimal cut-off points of waist circumference were calculated according to the prevalence rates of diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome among patients, and the calculation results were 78 cm, 79 cm, and 77 cm for male patients and 73 cm, 78 cm, and 73 cm for female patients. Based on the weight combined with the optimal cut-off points of waist circumference, the optimal waist circumference cut-off points for males and females were 78 cm and 74 cm, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: There is a correlation between the waist circumference and metabolic risks among non-obese populations, but the screening for metabolic diseases should be conducted among males with a waist circumference of over 78 cm and females with a waist circumference of over 74 cm. The treatment measures are supposed to be taken promptly to improve the prognosis.

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