Prevalence of abdominal obesity in primary care: the IDEA UK study

Abdominal obesity is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. However, despite the importance of abdominal obesity as a risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic disease, there are currently no UK-specific data on its prevalence in patients attending primary care.

The aim of the International Day for the Evaluation of Abdominal obesity (IDEA)-UK observational study was to determine the distribution of waist circumference--a marker of abdominal obesity--and its relationship with cardiovascular risk markers in a UK-based primary care population.

Patients underwent measurements of height, weight and waist circumference and provided data on reported cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia.

A total of 1731 patients were assessed within the study, of which 719 were male and 1012 were female. Of these 1731 patients, 1718 had complete datasets for the presence of reported cardiovascular risk factors. Median waist circumference in the male and female populations respectively was 99.0 cm [interquartile range (IQR) 91.0-108.0 cm] and 89.0 cm (IQR 79.0-100 cm). In all, 38.8% of men and 51.2% of women were abdominally obese (waist circumference > 102 cm and > 88 cm respectively) according to the US National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines. Within both male and female populations, the incidence of reported CVD, lipid disorders, hypertension and diabetes increased with increasing quartiles for waist circumference.

Increased waist circumference is widespread in patients attending primary care in the UK and is associated with elevated levels of reported diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorders and CVD.