title: Agreement in cardiovascular risk rating based on anthropometric parameters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the agreement in evaluation of risk of developing cardiovascular diseases based on anthropometric parameters in young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 406 students, measuring weight, height, and waist and neck circumferences. Waist-to-height ratio and the conicity index. The kappa coefficient was used to assess agreement in risk classification for cardiovascular diseases. The positive and negative specific agreement values were calculated as well. The Pearson chi-square (χ2) test was used to assess associations between categorical variables (p<0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of the parameters assessed (44%) showed slight (k=0.21 to 0.40) and/or poor agreement (k<0.20), with low values of negative specific agreement. The best agreement was observed between waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio both for the general population (k=0.88) and between sexes (k=0.93 to 0.86). There was a significant association (p<0.001) between the risk of cardiovascular diseases and females when using waist circumference and conicity index, and with males when using neck circumference. This resulted in a wide variation in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk (5.5%-36.5%), depending on the parameter and the sex that was assessed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate variability in agreement in assessing risk for cardiovascular diseases, based on anthropometric parameters, and which also seems to be influenced by sex. Further studies in the Brazilian population are required to better understand this issue.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Endilly Maria da Silva
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiane Jordânia
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Pegado de Abreu
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anna Cecília Queiroz de
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Medeiros
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio; D055815:Young Adult