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Sagittal abdominal diameter compared with other anthropometric measurements in relation to cardiovascular risk
M Ohrvall1, L Berglund, B Vessby
1Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics, Uppsala University, Sweden. Margareta.Ohrvall@geriatrik.uu.se
Insights
Sagittal abdominal diameter is a superior indicator of cardiovascular and metabolic risk in both men and women compared to other common measurements. This simple measurement effectively correlates with key risk factors for heart disease.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Health
- Metabolic Syndrome Research
- Anthropometry
Background:
- Abdominal adiposity is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.
- Sagittal abdominal diameter correlates with visceral adipose tissue volume.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare sagittal abdominal diameter with other anthropometric measures.
- To assess relationships with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors.
Main Methods:
- Study of 885 men and women.
- Measured sagittal abdominal diameter, BMI, waist/hip circumferences, waist-to-hip ratio.
- Assessed serum risk factors for CHD and blood pressure.
Main Results:
- Sagittal abdominal diameter showed stronger correlations with CHD risk factors than other measures in both men and women.
- It demonstrated superior correlation with total and metabolic cardiovascular risk.
- Regression analysis confirmed sagittal diameter as the strongest predictor of cardiovascular risk.
Conclusions:
- Sagittal abdominal diameter is a more effective measure of cardiovascular risk than waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and BMI.
- It also shows stronger correlations with metabolic syndrome risk factors.
- This measurement offers a valuable tool for assessing cardiovascular risk in both genders.
Background:
Abdominal adiposity has been described as an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. Sagittal abdominal diameter has been found to be closely related to the amount of visceral adipose tissue.
Aim:
To compare the sagittal abdominal diameter with other anthropometric measures regarding their relationships to risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD).
Design:
A study of 885 men and women participating in a health survey.
Measurements:
Sagittal abdominal diameter, body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumferences, waist-to-hip ratio, serum concentrations of risk factors for CHD, blood pressure.
Results:
In men the sagittal abdominal diameter showed stronger correlations to the CHD risk factors serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, apolipoprotein B (apoB), plasminogen activator inhibitor tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and lipid-corrected alpha tocopherol, and to systolic and diastolic blood pressures than the other anthropometric measurements. In women, compared with the other anthropometric measurements the sagittal abdominal diameter was more strongly correlated to serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, LDL/HDL (high-density lipoprotein), apo B and t-PA, and to systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The sagittal abdominal diameter showed a stronger correlation to 'total risk' for cardiovascular disease (+ 0.66 for men, 0.62 for women), than waist circumference (+ 0.63 for men, + 0.57 for women) and waist-to-hip ratio (+ 0.61 for men and +0.48 for women; P <0.0001 for all correlations). This diameter was also more strongly correlated to 'metabolic risk' (+ 0.64 for men, + 0.59 for women) than waist circumference (+ 0.60 for men, + 0.59 for women) and waist-to-hip ratio (+ 0.58 for men, + 0.52 for women)(P < 0.0001 for all correlations). In a regression analysis including the anthropometric measurements and the risk values, the sagittal diameter was the strongest measure of cardiovascular risk in both men and women.
Conclusions:
Among both men and women in this study the sagittal abdominal diameter showed stronger correlations to cardiovascular risk and to other risk factors in the metabolic syndrome than other anthropometric variables such as waist circumference, waist-to hip ratio and BMI.