A Study of Neck Circumference in Metabolic Syndrome and Correlation With Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Background Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of developing chronic health issues, particularly those related to the heart and glucose metabolism. Neck circumference (NC) has emerged as a simple and effective anthropometric marker reflecting upper-body adiposity, with strong associations to insulin resistance and visceral fat distribution. Materials and methods A total of 160 people participated in this cross-sectional study, 80 of whom had metabolic syndrome and the remaining 80 of whom were age-matched controls. Participants were recruited from the Medicine and Allied Departments at M.S. Ramaiah Hospital. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed based on commonly accepted clinical criteria. Participants underwent clinical evaluation, anthropometric assessments, as well as laboratory tests such as fasting blood sugar (FBS) and lipid profile. NC was measured and analyzed for its correlation with various cardiometabolic risk factors. Results The mean NC was much greater in the case group compared to controls. NC was strongly positively correlated with triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, dimensions of the waist and hips, blood pressure, FBS, total cholesterol, and body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.001). Gender-specific neck circumference thresholds for predicting metabolic syndrome were determined by the Youden index; these thresholds were 36.76 cm for males and 34.75 cm for females, with both showing good specificity. Conclusion NC is significantly connected to the elements of metabolic syndrome. As a low-cost and easy-to-measure parameter, NC shows potential as a practical metabolic syndrome screening tool, especially in resource-limited settings.