Defining abdominal obesity as a risk factor for coronary heart disease in the U.S. Results from the hispanic community health study/study of latinos (HCHS/SOL)

Diana A. Chirinos*, Maria M. Llabre, Ronald Goldberg, Marc Gellman, Armando Mendez, Jianwen Cai, Daniela Sotres-Alvarez, Marta Daviglus, Linda C. Gallo, Neil Schneiderman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Various organizations have highlighted the need to examine whether abdominal obesity cut points are appropriate for identification of cardiovascular risk among ethnic minority adults, particularly Hispanic/Latino adults living in Western societies. This study aimed 1) to establish optimal definitions for abdominal obesity among Hispanics/Latinos and 2) to determine the level of agreement between the presence of metabolic syndrome diagnosed by the current Joint Interim Statement (JIS) definition and an updated definition with optimal abdominal obesity cut points. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The sample included 16,289 adults who self-identified as Hispanic/Latino ages 18– 74 years enrolled in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/ SOL). Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to derive sensitivity and specificity values. The largest sum of sensitivity plus specificity was used to determine appropriate cut points. RESULTS Among U.S. Hispanic/Latino adults, waist circumference cut points of >102 cm in men (in line with current JIS criteria) and >97 cm (9 points higher than JIS criteria) in women provide optimal discrimination for cardiovascular risk as judged by the presence of coronary heart disease. When using these cut points to create an updated metabolic syndrome definition among women, we found disagreement between our updated definition and the current JIS criteria. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was overestimated by ∼5 percentage points among women based on JIS criteria in comparison with our definition. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the current recommendations for waist circumference cut points may not be appropriate for U.S. Hispanic/Latino women.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1774-1780
Number of pages7
JournalDiabetes care
Volume43
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2020

Funding

Funding. The HCHS/SOL was carried out as a collaborative study supported by contracts from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to the University of North Carolina (N01-HC65233), University of Miami (N01-HC65234), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (N01-HC65235), Northwestern University The HCHS/SOL was carried out as a collaborative study supported by contracts from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to the University of North Carolina (N01-HC65233), University of Miami (N01-HC65234), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (N01-HC65235), Northwestern University (N01-HC65236), and San Diego State University (N01-HC65237). The following institutes/ centers/offices contribute to the HCHS/SOL through a transfer of funds to the NHLBI: the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Office of Dietary Supplements.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Advanced and Specialized Nursing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Defining abdominal obesity as a risk factor for coronary heart disease in the U.S. Results from the hispanic community health study/study of latinos (HCHS/SOL)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this