Waist Perimeter Cutoff Points and Prediction of Metabolic Syndrome Risk. A Study in a Mexican Population

BackgroundAssociation between metabolic syndrome (MS) risk factors was analyzed to establish optimum waist perimeter (WP) cutoff points for a Latin American cluster.MethodsThere were 1036 clinically healthy Mexican subjects without a history of CVD. Their full medical history and anthropometric and biochemical parameters were analyzed. Diagnosis of MS was classified by both the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the American Heart Association (AHA-NHLBI) definitions. The optimum WP cutoff point was defined through one-way ANOVA, homogeneity and χ2 test of dependency, and receiver operator characteristic analysis (ROC).ResultsWP cutoff points suggested by the IDF (≥90 cm in men, ≥80 cm in women) and AHA-NHLBI (≥102 cm in men, ≥88 cm in women) showed a weak association with the other MS risk factors. By using the cutoff point of ≥98 cm for men and ≥84 cm for women, we obtained maximum sensitivity and specificity values by ROC analysis. These cutoff points defined as the Mexican Waist Perimeter Proposal (MxWPP) significantly change the prevalence of MS in contrast with the IDF and AHA-NHLBI.ConclusionsApplying the MxWPP new criteria enhances the capability to more accurately detect subjects with MS risk in an apparent healthy Latin American cluster.