Body mass index and waist-to-height ratio as a predictors of metabolic syndrome

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare usefulness of the body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in screening for metabolic syndrome (MS). A cross-sectional study was conducted in MFD Outpatient hospital “Ilguciems” from October 2017 to March 2018 and continued from October 2020 to December 2020. The patients were asked to complete a questionnaire about their socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors. Patients systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were measured. Disease history were studied. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight and WC) were taken. BMI and WHtR were calculated. All statistical analysis was performed in IBM SPSS 23.0. The value of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rS), Pearson correlation coefficient (rP), Pearson's chi-squared test (X2) and Fisher's exact test were determined. P value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The study involved 99 patients 47 to 87 years old: 38 (38.4%) men and 61 (61.6%) women. The frequency of MS was 65 (65.7%): 25 (38.5%) men and 40 (61.5%) women. We found a moderate positive statistically significant relationship between MS and psycho-emotional distress (X2=4.83, p=0.032, Phi=0.221, p=0.032) and a moderate positive statistically significant relationship between smoking and MS (X2=7.90, p=0.014, Cramer's V=0.283, p=0.014). Study shows a very strong positive statistically significant correlation between MS and WHtR (X2=33.70, p<0.001; Phi=0.583, p<0.001), and a strong positive statistically significant correlation between MS and BMI (X2=12.11, p=0.001, Phi=0.350, p=0.001). We determined a moderate positive statistically significant correlation between serum TG level and both obesity parameters: BMI (r=0.450, p<0.001), WHtR (r=0.511, p<0.001). Patients with MS are more likely to experience psycho-emotional distress on a daily basis than patients without MS. Smoking is a significant risk factor for MS development.WHtR is superior to BMI for predicting MS.