Which of the Indices of Waist Circumference, Waist-to-hip Ratio and Waist-to-Height Ratio Is Better for Diagnosis of Overweight and Obesity in young women? ROC Analysis

There is no singular agreement on the best anthropometric indices to evaluate overweight and obesity. This study evaluated anthropometric indices for diagnosing and screening overweight and obesity to determine an appropriate cut-off point for young women. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 279 healthy female college students aged 18-25 years living in a university dormitory. Demographic data was collected by questionnaire. Height، weight، waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference were measured and used to calculate body mass index (BMI)، waist-to-hip ratio (WHpR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). ANOVA and ROC were used to analyze the data، determine the sensitivity and specificity of international anthropometric cut-off points، and propose new optimal cut-off points for each anthropometric index. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0. 918 for WC، 0. 920 for WHtR and 0. 76 for WHpR. The AUC for WHpR was significantly lower than the other values (p < 0. 001). The sensitivity and specificity for the international cut-off points were، respectively، 77% and 88% for WC of 80 cm، 67% and 72% for WHpR of 0. 8، and 80% and 90% for WHtR. The highest sensitivity and specificity values were for the proposed cut-off point for WC of 77 cm (sensitivity 82%، specificity 83%)، WHpR of 0. 79 (sensitivity 72%، specificity 65%) and WHtR of 0. 48 (sensitivity 87%، specificity 80%). WC and WHtR ratio are better indices than WHpR to detect overweight and obesity; however WC is the index applicable for clinical practice because it is easier to measure than the other two indices and is low cost. The suggested cut-off point of WC of 77 cm had higher sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of overweight and obesity in young women than the standard WC of 80 cm.