Optimal cut points of waist circumference (WC) and visceral fat area (VFA) predicting for metabolic syndrome (MetS) in elderly population in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging (KLoSHA)

Optimal cut points of central obesity identifying subjects at risk for MetS were proposed ethnic-specifically, but have not been established yet. Of particular interest are the values for elderly persons, which have not been identified previously. We investigated the appropriate cut points of WC and VFA for elderly in a community-based cohort in Korea. We recruited 294 men and 313 women aged 65 or over who participated in the KLoSHA. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to estimate the optimal cut points of WC and VFA indicative of MetS. The optimal cut points for predicting MetS were 87 cm for WC, 140 cm2 for VFA in men, and 85 cm for WC, 100 cm2 for VFA in women with the Youden index. Similar cut points were obtained with the closest-to-(0, 1) criterion except for VFA in men, which was 122 cm2. When adjusted for age, exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption, men with ≥122 cm2 and women with ≥100 cm2 of VFA had a higher risk of MetS than subjects with lower values. The cut points of VFA and WC at risk for MetS were higher in men than women. In this community-based elderly cohort, the optimal cut points of WC at risk for MetS were lower than the Western criteria. Compared with the cut points in middle-aged Koreans, the cut points for elderly were lower in men and similar in women.