Prediction of hypertension using anthropometric indices in adult aged 35～74,in Taiwan

Objective To assess the predictive value of body mass index(BMI),waist circumference(WC),waist-to-hip ratio(WHR)and waist-to-height ratio(WHtR)for hypertension at the population level.Methods Data from a medical center's database about 48 753 subjects who were 35 to 74 years old in Taiwan was analyzed.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis was done.The areas under the ROC curves for BMI,WC,WHR and WHtR with hypertension were computed and compared.Results The AUC for every anthropometric index with hypertension was significantly larger than 0.5.Compared to BMI,WC and WHR,the AUC for WHtR with hypertension was the largest(male 0.686,95% CI:0.679～0.694;female 0.759,95% CI:0.751～0.767).The AUC for female WHtR with hypertension was significantly larger than male's.Among these AUCs,the AUC for BMI,WC,WHR and WHtR was the largest(male 0.693,95% CI:0.686～0.701;female 0.770,95% CI:0.762～0.778).Conclusions WHtR,prior to BMI,WHR,WHR,may be the best obesity-related index to discriminate adult hypertension,especially for women in Taiwan.