Waist Circumference To Height Ratio As A Screening Tool In The Assessment Of Metabolic Syndrome And Its Comparison With Body Mass Index” - A One Year Cross Sectional Study At Kles Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital, Belagavi

Abstract

Background and Objectives Metabolic syndrome has become increasingly prevalent globally over the last two decades. Body Mass Index (BMI) has been used as a proxy for obesity and as a screening tool to assess Metabolic syndrome for many years, but, in recent years, indices of abdominal obesity (first waist-hip ratio WHpR) and then waist circumference (WC) and the novel waist circumference to height ratio (WHR) have increasingly been associated with higher cardio metabolic risk in both cross-sectional and prospective studies. The disadvantage of BMI is that it can’t account for the weight that comes from muscle instead of fat. Athletes and naturally muscular people will not get accurate BMI scores, nor will apparently slender individuals who carry excess body fat around their waists. BMI will often be misleading because of differences in body type and muscle mass. WHR provides a simple, inexpensive, non-invasive, and gender independent method for screening of cardiovascular disease risk factors. Methodology This one year study was done from January 2016 to December 2016 in the Department of Medicine of a tertiary care centre in North Karnataka. Prior to the commencement, ethical clearance was obtained. A total of 150 consecutive patients presenting with Metabolic Syndrome were studied. Anthropometric indices like Height, Weight and Waist Circumference were measured. Patients were subjected to investigations like Blood sugar, HbA1c and lipid profile. Results Majority of the patients were males (67%) and the commonest age group was 51 to 70 years (51%). The average weight was found to be 67kgs. The average BMI was 24.9kg/m2. About 48% patients of Metabolic Syndrome had a BMI ≥ 23, which is the cut off value for Indian population. We observed that majority of patients’ waist Circumference to Height Ratio was above the cut off value of ≥ 0.5. The detection rate of Waist Height Ratio for Metabolic syndrome was found to be 95%. Thus WHR proved to be superior anthropometric parameter as compared to BMI(p value – 0.0001). Our further observations revealed that the individual components of Metabolic Syndrome like Diabetes, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia did not reveal any significant association with BMI or Waist Height Ratio. Conclusion and interpretation WHR is a better anthropometric tool in the assessment of metabolic syndrome as compared to BMI