The appropriate cut-off point of waist circumference for identifying metabolic syndrome in Chinese Uygur adults

Objective To analyze the appropriate cut-off point of waist circumference for identifying metabolic syndrome(MS) in Chinese Uygur adults. Methods Based on the IDF consensus worldwide definition of metabolic syndrome(2005),2526 Uygur adults aged 25-90 years from Urumqi city and Kashgar region were enrolled to analyze the ORs of the clustering of MS components at different sizes of waist circumference. The sensitivity, specificity and distance in ROC curve by different cut-off points of waist circumference for identifying two components of MS were estimated to find the cut-off points for men and women in Uygur with the shortest distance of ROC curve. Results The ORs of the clustering of MS components were increased significantly with the sizes of waist circumference. The waist circumference (≥93 cm for men, ≥89 cm for women) corresponded to the shortest distance of ROC curve, namely, at these cut-off points, the rates of false positive and false negative for identifying MS were minimum. The prevalence of MS was 26.0% and 27.7% in men and women respectively. Conclusions The waist circumferences≥93 cm for men,and≥89 cm for women are the appropriate cut-off points for identifying MS in Uygur. This recommendation needs further confirmation in a larger sample group of Uygurs.