Performance of the waist-to-height ratio in identifying obesity and predicting non-communicable diseases in the elderly population: A systematic literature review

• WHtR is a valid and very useful anthropometric index to assess adiposity.
• WHtR is considered a good predictor of cardiometabolic risk factors.
• The association between WHtR and chronic diseases differed among age groups.
• WHtR was considered the best predictor among younger elderly persons.
• The use of WHtR is recommended due to its easy applicability in clinical practice.

A systematic review was carried out aiming to collect evidence on the use of the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) on the elderly population, focusing on validity measures to identify the best anthropometric indicator in assessing obesity associated with non-communicable diseases. The review consisted in a search of papers published on the databases Pubmed, Web of Science, and Lilacs, with no restriction regarding period of publication, using the following combinations: abdominal fat or overweight or obesity and waist-to-height ratio or waist height or waist ht or WHtR or waist to stature ratio or wst stature or WSR or stature and girth. Sixteen papers were selected, most of which with high methodological quality. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves was the validity measure explored in 13 papers, followed by sensitivity and specificity measures. In all studies, the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) received special attention for analysis along with WHtR. Five manuscripts showed evidence of WHtR being the best anthropometric index when used alone, four showed that both WHtR and WC had the best discriminatory power in predicting cardiovascular risk factors compared to the other indices, and two ranked WHtR at the same performance level as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and BMI. An association was shown of the obesity assessed by WHtR in predicting risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes compared to other anthropometric parameters.