BMI specific waist circumference for detecting clusters of cardiovascular risk factors in a Japanese population

The purpose of the study was to determine the sensitive cutoff values of waist circumference (WC) in relation to the body mass index (BMI) for detecting the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors (CCRF) in Japanese men and women.

The study population included 2,476 male and female residents who participated in a ward health examination in Tokyo, Japan. The CCRF were defined according to the Japanese Committee of the Criteria for Metabolic Syndrome. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis was conducted within each BMI category.

The percentage of study participants in the normal BMI category was around 70% for both men and women. The sensitive cutoff values for the largest WC with at least 80% sensitivity were 81 cm for normal and 89 cm for overweight men. The corresponding values for women were 79 cm and 86 cm, respectively. The WC with maximized sensitivity plus specificity was 80 cm for normal and 89 cm for overweight men, and the sensitivity was 88.7% and 83.0%, respectively. The corresponding values for women were 78 and 94 cm, respectively, and the sensitivity was 91.5% and 57.6%, respectively.

For the early detection and management of clusters of cardiovascular risk factors, we concluded that a BMI-specific WC cutoff value of 80 cm for normal weight in both men and women and 89 cm for overweight men and 86 cm for overweight women should be discriminate cutoff values.