Background: Type
2 diabetes is rapidly increasing, particularly in the Middle East where central obesity is
a major
contributor to disease burden. Identifying high
-risk individuals requires indices that assess visceral adiposity more
effectively than body mass index (BMI). This study compared nine anthropometric indices in relation to diabetes and
determined their predictive capacity and optimal cut
-off values.
Methods: This cross
-sectional analysis included 10,103 adults aged 35
–70 years from the FASA cohort. Diabetes was
defined as fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL or antidiabetic medication use. Measurements included BMI, waist
circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist
-to
-hip ratio (WHR), waist
-to
-height ratio (WHtR), body roundness
index (BRI), body adiposity index (BAI),
a body shape index (ABSI), abdominal volume index (AVI), and weight
–
adjusted waist index (WWI). Associations were examined using logistic regression (crude and adjusted models).
Discriminatory accuracy was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, area under the curve
(AUC), and Youden’s index.
Results: Individuals with diabetes exhibited higher values across anthropometric indices (p< 0.05). In adjusted models,
WC, WHR, WHtR, AVI, and WWI remained significant predictors (p< 0.05). WHR demonstrated the highest AUC
(0.651, p< 0.001). Optimal cut
-off values with high sensitivity and specificity included WHR= 0.91, WHtR= 0.53, and
BRI= 4.1.
Conclusion
: Central obesity indices
—particularly WHR, WHtR, and BRI
—demonstrated superior discriminatory
capacity for diabetes and support the use of simple waist
-based indices for early screening.
Keywords:
Type
2 diabetes,
Anthropometric indices,
Central obesity,
Visceral adiposity,
Predictive performance,
Roc
curve analysis