Volume 33, Nº 4, July and August 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36660/IJCS.20190021
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Waist Circumference Above 80 cm Predicts Increased Systolic Blood Pressure in Healthy Young Adult Women
Gilberto Reis Agostinho Silva
Maria Sebastiana Silva
Lídia Andreu Guillo
Abstract
Background: Among anthropometric measures for assessing adiposity-related risk, waist circumference (WC) is simple and fast to perform. Cut-off values for WC proposed by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and the Adult Treatment Panel III of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP-ATP III) are categorized by gender and are not age-specific.
Objective: To analyze the association between WC and cardiometabolic risk factors in adult women.
Methods: A total of 164 healthy adult women were grouped by WC according to IDF and NCEP-ATP III cutoff values. Continuous variables were described as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range). The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess the normality of data. Variables were analyzed by unpaired Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The correlation of WC categories with systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and triglycerides were examined by Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Increased WC showed a significant correlation with SBP, DBP, glucose, HDL-c, and triglycerides. In bivariate linear regression, approximately 63.0 % of the variability of SBP (≥ 130 mmHg) among the age group 20-40 years was predicted by increased WC according to both criteria.
Conclusion: A WC above 80 cm in women aged 20-40 years strongly predicted variability in SBP, calling attention to the importance of measuring WC for the monitoring and prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in women in this age group. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2020; 33(4):340-347)
Keywords: Body Weight and Measures; Anthropometry/instrumentation; Young Adult; Women,; Abdominal Circumference; Blood Pressure; Risk Factors.
