مقایسه اندازه گیری شش ناحیه مختلف دور کمر در افراد بالغ شهر اهواز

Background and Objective: The measurement of waist circumference (WC) is a simple and cost-effective method for health risk assessment and obesity. Several sites for WC measurements are used. However, there is no previous study to investigate the differences in WC measured at various sites in our country, and there is no universally accepted method of WC measurement. The aim of this study was to compare measured six different sites of WC in adults. Subjects and Methods: WC was measured at six conventional sites, as follows: the narrowest waist (WC1), below the lowest ribs (WC2), the midpoint between the lowest rib and the iliac crest (WC3), above the iliac crest (WC4), umbilicus (WC5), 1 cm above umbilicus (WC6) in 292 females and 223 males. Differences in WC across sites were tested using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni pairwise comparisons were computed to identify specific difference between paired sites. Results: The mean values of WCs were WC2 (80.9±10.1) < WC1 (81.0±9.3) < WC6 (83.1±10.3) < WC3 (84.4±9.9) < WC5 (84.8±10.1) < WC4 (85.8±8.8) in males, and WC1 (78.6±10.3) < WC2 (78.0±10.3) < WC3 (82.4±10.9) < WC6 (85.3±11.2) < WC5 (86.8±12.2) < WC4 (87.7±12.3) in females. In females, the mean WC for all sites were significantly different from each other (p<0.001), except for WC1 and WC2. In males, significant differences between all sites were found (P<0.01). Prevalence of abdominal obesity (>80/90 cm) in different WC sites, ranging from 16.6 to 28.7% in males and 43.5 to72.9% in females. Conclusion: WC values at six sites showed significant difference in both sexes. The estimated abdominal obesity prevalence (>80/90 cm) ranged dramatically according to measurement site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]