The discriminatory power of visceral adipose tissue area vs anthropometric measures as a diagnostic marker for metabolic syndrome in South African women
Date
2019-11-08
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC (part of Springer Nature)
Abstract
Background: A number of studies have shown central adiposity, in particular visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation
to be a hallmark of metabolic syndrome (MetS). In clinical practice, waist circumference (WC) is used as a proxy
for VAT.
Aim: To compare the ability of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived VAT area and anthropometric measures
of adiposity for diagnosing MetS in a sample of high risk South African women.
Methods: MetS was quantified using the Joint Interim Statement (JIS) criteria. Fasting glucose, insulin and lipid profile
were measured in 204 post-menopausal women. Anthropometry measures included body mass index (BMI), WC,
waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and a body shape index (ABSI). The area under the curve (AUC)
was used to assess their performance in detecting any two components of MetS (excluding WC). Optimal WC and VAT
area cut-points were derived to compare their performance for diagnosing MetS and to compare to internationally
recognised cut-points.
Results: The highest AUC for the prediction of MetS was recorded for VAT, followed by WHtR and WC (AUC, 0.767,
0.747 and 0.738 respectively), but these did not differ significantly (all p ≥ 0.192). In contrast, VAT was significantly
better than BMI (p = 0.028), hip (p = 0.0004) and ABSI (p < 0.0001). The optimal WC (94.4 cm) and VAT area (174 cm2
based on the Youden’s index method and 175.50 cm2 based on the CTL approach) cut-points performed similarly in
detecting MetS.
Conclusion: DXA-derived VAT and WC had the same overall performance in discriminating the presence of any 2
MetS components in high risk South African women. These findings support the current recommendations of using
WC rather than VAT for MetS risk screening, as it is cheap, accessible and easy to measure.
Description
CITATION: Davidson, F. E., et al. 2019. The discriminatory power of visceral adipose tissue area vs anthropometric measures as a diagnostic marker for metabolic syndrome in South African women. Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome, 11:93, doi:10.1186/s13098-019-0483-1.
The original publication is available at https://dmsjournal.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at https://dmsjournal.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Metabolic syndrome, Adiposity, Visceral reflex, Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, Anthropometry, Metabolic syndrome
Citation
Davidson, F. E., et al. 2019. The discriminatory power of visceral adipose tissue area vs anthropometric measures as a diagnostic marker for metabolic syndrome in South African women. Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome, 11:93, doi:10.1186/s13098-019-0483-1