title: Evaluation of waist circumference to predict general obesity and arterial hypertension in women in Greater Metropolitan Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
abstract: This study examined the capacity of waist circumference (WC) to identify subjects with overweight (BMI >/=25) and obesity (BMI >/=30), in agreement with internationally recommended levels of action. Data were obtained from 791 women, 15-59 years old. After identifying overweight and obesity according to WC values, sensitivity and specificity were calculated to verify whether WC could be a good risk predictor for hypertension. Associations were tested by linear regression and logistic regression, controlling for confounding. WC cut-off points of 80cm and 88cm correctly identified 89.8% and 88.5% of women with overweight and obesity, respectively. Abdominal obesity (WC >/=88cm) was statistically associated with hypertension in the multivariate analysis (OR = 2.88; 95% CI: 1.77-4.67). Hypertension was identified with a sensitivity of 63.8% and 42.8%, and with a specificity of 68.0% and 83.3%, for WC >/=80 and >/=88, respectively. The proposed cut-off points for abdominal obesity can potentially distinguish individuals at risk for future obesity, but has only moderate power to predict individuals with high blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem Materno Infantil e Saúde Pública, Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30130-100, Brasil. guvemc@lcc.ufmg.br
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Velasquez-Melendez
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kac
authors.forename: Joaquim Gonçalves
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Cibele Queiroz da
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Emerson Silami
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Garcia
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014505:Urban Population