Abstract:
Abdominal obesity has been described as an
independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). To compare the ratio
between the distance from the lower edge of xiphisternum to the centre of the
umbilicus (XU D) to height with other anthropometric measurements in predicting
cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Methods: A random sample of 4532 (males
1793, females 2739) nationally representative noninstitutionalized adults aged
18years were included in analyses. XUD, body massJndex (8MI), waist
circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), systolic and diastolic blood
pressure. fasting plasma glucose and total cholesterol, high density and low
density cholesterol; and triglycerides were measured. Oral glucose tolerance test
was also preformed. XUR = XUD/Height. Results: XUD had significant
correlations with the cardiovascular risk factors analysed as continuous variables
(p<0.001). The correlation between BMI, WC and WHR with XUD was
significant for both sexes (p<0.001). The area under the curve in the receiver
operating characteristic curve analysis for XUR in predicting two or more CVD
risk factors was 0.64 (95% CI: 0.62 - 0.65). BMI, WC and WHR obtained higher
values 0.71 (0.69 - 0.72), 0.71 (0.70 - 0.73) and 0.67 (0.65 - 0.68) respectively.
Conclusions: The XUR showed significant correlations with the cardiovascular
risk factors among Sri Lankan adults. In addition, XUR can be used as an
alternative to traditional anthropometries tools. However, XU distance in
predicting CVD risk was inferior to BMI, WC and WHR
