Correlation Of Various Anthropometric Indices Among Nigerians With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Background: Obesity has been described as the major driving force for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Various parameters have been measured to give some estimates about the levels of adiposity. It is therefore very pertinent to know the best index for the measurement of obesity among patients with type 2 DM who had MSX and those without it.

Objective: To determine the correlations, if any, of the various anthropometric variables among Nigerians with type 2 DM who had metabolic syndrome X (MSX) and those who did not have MSX.

Materials and Methods: One-hundred and ninety-two patients with type 2 DM attending Diabetic clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos were randomly enrolled for the study. Ninety-six of the patients had metabolic syndrome X (presence of hypertension and obesity in addition to type 2 DM), while the rest had only type 2 DM. History was obtained through a questionnaire and patients were physically examined. Anthropometric indices were obtained using standards from the WHO Technical Report Series-854 on physical status 1995.

Results: Body mass index (BMI) correlated well with waist circumference (WC) and subscapular skinfold thickness (SST) (r=0.63 and ρ<0.01) but not with waist: hip ratio WHR (r=0.11 and ρ=0.4). In addition, WC correlated well with WHR and SST (r=0.53 and 0.54, respectively with ρ<0.01). However, SST did not have a good correlation with WHR (r=0.02 and ρ>0.05). The patterns of relationships between patients with MSX and control subjects were similar

Conclusion: WC correlated well with all other measured indices of obesity among the two groups studied.


Highland Medical Research Journal Vol. 5 (1) 2007 pp. 33-48