Correlates and Predictors of Increasing Waist Circumference in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM) has become a disease of public health concern worldwide. Obesity and elevated blood pressure have been shown to be comorbidities of type 2 DM. In this cross-sectional study in Tamale, Ghana, we determined the prevalence of abdominal obesity among type 2 DM patients. Furthermore, we examined the demographic, clinical, and anthropometric predictors of increasing waist circumference in this population. Three hundred type 2 DM patients attending the outpatient diabetes clinic of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana, were recruited for the study. Waist circumference (WC) and hip circumferences were measured appropriately. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were taken from the personal health record files of patients. Demographic data were obtained. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression models were employed to identify predictors of increasing WC. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was 77.0% and was significantly higher in women than in men. A positive correlation was observed between waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and WC (r = 0.56, P < 0.001), female gender (r = 0.73, P < 0.001), and age (r = 0.20, P < 0.001). A high prevalence of abdominal obesity was observed. Predictors of increasing WC were gender, age, FPG, and WHR.