The relationship of high sensitivity C-reactive protein to percent body fat mass, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist circumference in a Taiwanese population.
BACKGROUND
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is an easily measured inflammatory biomarker. This study compared the association of percent body fat mass (%FM), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with hs-CRP in a Taiwanese population.


METHODS
A total of 1669 subjects aged 40-88 years were recruited in 2004 in a metropolitan city in Taiwan. The relationships between obesity indicators and a high level of hs-CRP were examined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The upper quartile of the hs-CRP distributions was defined as the high category group. The areas under the curve (AUCs) of the receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated for all obesity indicators to compare their relative ability to correctly classify subjects with a high level of hs-CRP.


RESULTS
After multivariate adjustment, the odds ratio for %FM was the only significant indicator that was associated with a high level of hs-CRP in men (1.55, 95% CI: 1.07-2.25). All indicators were associated with a high level of hs-CRP in women. In men, the AUCs for %FM were significantly higher than those for BMI, WHR, and WC, when demographic and lifestyle behaviors were considered (p < 0.001 for all comparisons), but they were not significantly different in females.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrates that %FM is the only obesity indicator that is strongly associated with a high level of hs-CRP after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle behaviors and components of metabolic syndrome in both genders in a Taiwanese population aged forty years and over. In men, %FM had the greatest ability to classify subjects with a high level of hs-CRP when only demographic and lifestyle behaviors were considered. Our study finding has important implications for the screening of obesity in community settings.
Lin
Cheng-Chieh
CC
Department of Family Medicine, China Medical University & Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Kardia
Sharon L R
SL
Li
Chia-Ing
CI
Liu
Chiu-Shong
CS
Lai
Ming-May
MM
Lin
Wen-Yuan
WY
Chang
Pei-Chia
PC
Lee
Yih-Dar
YD
Chen
Ching-Chu
CC
Lin
Chih-Hsueh
CH
Yang
Chuan-Wei
CW
Hsiao
Chih-Yi
CY
Chen
Walter
W
Li
Tsai-Chung
TC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D019540:Area Under Curve; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D013624:Taiwan; D014505:Urban Population; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
D002097:C-Reactive Protein