Optimal waist:height ratio cut-off point for cardiometabolic risk factors in Turkish adults.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the optimal waist:height ratio (WHtR) cut-off point that discriminates cardiometabolic risk factors in Turkish adults.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study. Hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome score >or=2 (presence of two or more metabolic syndrome components except for waist circumference) and at least one risk factor (diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidaemia) were categorical outcome variables. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were prepared by plotting 1 - specificity on the x-axis and sensitivity on the y-axis. The WHtR value that had the highest Youden index was selected as the optimal cut-off point for each cardiometabolic risk factor (Youden index = sensitivity + specificity - 1).


METHODS
Turkey, 2003.


METHODS
Adults (1121 women and 571 men) aged 18 years and over were examined.


RESULTS
Analysis of ROC coordinate tables showed that the optimal cut-off value ranged between 0.55 and 0.60 and was almost equal between men and women. The sensitivities of the identified cut-offs were between 0.63 and 0.81, the specificities were between 0.42 and 0.71 and the accuracies were between 0.65 and 0.73, for men and women. The cut-off point of 0.59 was the most frequently identified value for discrimination of the studied cardiometabolic risk factors. Subjects classified as having WHtR >or= 0.59 had significantly higher age and sociodemographic multivariable-adjusted odds ratios for cardiometabolic risk factors than subjects with WHtR < 0.59, except for diabetes in men.


CONCLUSIONS
We show that the optimal WHtR cut-off point to discriminate cardiometabolic risk factors is 0.59 in Turkish adults.
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Private Gayrettepe Florence Nightingale Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. selcukcan@endokrinoloji.com
Ahmet Selçuk
AS
Can
Emine Akal
EA
Yildiz
Gülhan
G
Samur
Neslişah
N
Rakicioğlu
Gülden
G
Pekcan
Sinan
S
Ozbayrakçi
K Erhan
KE
Palaoğlu
Mithat
M
Gönen
Thomas P
TP
Bersot
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult