Korean J Obes.  2016 Mar;25(1):19-23. 10.7570/kjo.2016.25.1.19.

Waist-to-Height Ratio as a Simple and Useful Indicator for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Korean Women

• Lim HJ
• Seo MS
• Lee HR
• Shim JY
• Kang HT
• Lee YJ

• KMID: 2271171
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7570/kjo.2016.25.1.19

Abstract

BACKGROUND
It has not been determined which obesity index might be most appropriate to predict nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Asian populations. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the waist-to-height ratio in assessing patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and to identify the optimal cut-off values useful for predicting nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
METHODS
Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were conducted in order to assess the accuracy of the waist circumference, body mass index, and waist-to-height ratio for detecting nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among 616 women aged 20 years or older. To evaluate the optimal value of anthropometric indices, the Youden J-index (sensitivity+specificity-1) was used.
RESULTS
The area under the ROC curve of waist-to-height ratio was highest among anthropometric obesity indices as follows: 0.776 (0.731-0.822) for waist circumference, 0.775 (0.728-0.822) for body mass index, and 0.792 (0.748-0.836) for waist-to-height ratio, respectively. Using a waist-to-height ration cut-off value of 0.49, the sensitivity and specificity for detecting nonalcoholic fatty liver disease were 72.3 % and 74.7%, respectively.
CONCLUSION
These results demonstrated that the waist-to-height ratio may be a better obesity index for identifying individuals at risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Korean women.

Keyword

Anthropometry; Obesity; Waist-to-height ratio; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

MeSH Terms

Anthropometry
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Body Mass Index
Fatty Liver*
Female
Humans
Obesity
ROC Curve
Sensitivity and Specificity
Waist Circumference