Criteria of Waist Circumference According to Computed Tomography-Measured Visceral Fat Area and the Clustering of Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the discriminate gender-specific cutoff values of waist circumference (WC) for detecting the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors (CCRF), which reflects the intra-abdominal visceral fat area (VFA) using a large Japanese population. Methods and Results: The study population consisted of 6,736 men and women who underwent a periodic health check-up and had a computed tomography scan for VFA measurement at the PL Tokyo Health Care Center in Tokyo, Japan. The CCRF was defined according to the Japanese Committee of the Criteria for Metabolic Syndrome. The discriminate values for detecting the CCRF were tested using receiver operating characteristics analysis. The discriminate values of VFA were 103.0 cm(2) with 68.7% sensitivity and 61.8% specificity for men and 69.0 cm(2) with 80.8% sensitivity and 70.0% specificity for women. The WC values corresponding to the VFA were 89.1 cm for men and 86.3 cm for women. The discriminate values of VFA and WC were not substantially different between people with or without raised blood pressure. Conclusions: For the early detection and management of the CCRF and VFA in the primary screening setting, the discriminate and convenient gender-specific WC criteria would be 90 cm for men and 85 cm for women. (Circ J 2009; 73: 1881 - 1886)