Waist-to-height ratio better predictor of Cardiovascular risk in type 2 Diabetes patients

According to a new study, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) had a greater connection with cardio-cerebrovascular events (CCBVEs) in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus participants than waist circumference (WC), waist-hip-ratio (WHR), and Body Mass Index (BMI). For assessing cardiovascular risks in T2DM, WHtR may be a better signal than other anthropometric parameters.

This study was conducted by Jiang-Feng Ke and team & the findings were published in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

BMI, WHR and WHtR have all been considered as risk factors for incident hypertension. However, whether one of these indicators is preferable to another in terms of predicting hypertension in diabetes individuals has been debated.

For this study, in 3108 T2DM patients were recruited and the relationships of four anthropometric variables with CCBVEs and metabolic syndrome (MetS) were examined using a multiple regression model. A history of myocardial infarction, angina, angioplasty, coronary artery bypass surgery, transient ischemic attack, ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke was considered CCBVEs.

The key findings of this study are:

1. After correcting for age, gender, and diabetes duration, the prevalence of CCBVEs and MetS in T2DM patients rose substantially across the WHtR, WC, WHR, and BMI quartiles, respectively.

2. Although four anthropometric measurements were closely associated with MetS prevalence, only the WHtR quartile (6.5%, 13.8%, 16.9%, and 21.3%, p 0.001 for trend) was significantly associated with CCBVEs prevalence (6.5%, 13.8%, 16.9%, and 21.3%, p 0.001 for trend).

3. A regression analysis demonstrated that, after controlling for several confounders, including four anthropometric measures, only WHtR was independently and positively linked with the existence of CCBVEs (p = 0.029).

In conclusion, in type 2 diabetes patients, WHtR was a more reliable predictor of cardiovascular risks than WHR and BMI.

Reference:

Ke, J.-F., Wang, J.-W., Lu, J.-X., Zhang, Z.-H., Liu, Y., & Li, L.-X. (2022). Waist-to-height ratio has a stronger association with cardiovascular risks than waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and body mass index in type 2 diabetes. In Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice (Vol. 183, p. 109151). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2021.109151