Mid-upper arm circumference as a simple tool for identifying central obesity and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Our research aimed to explore the correlation between mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and central obesity and insulin resistance (IR) in Chinese subjects with type 2 diabetes. MATERIALS: A total of 103 participants (60 men) were recruited in our study. MUAC was measured around the mid-arm between the shoulder and elbow. Waist circumference (WC) was obtained as central obesity parameter, and the IR parameter of Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. The subjects were divided into three groups according to the tertiles cut-points of MUAC level. RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI), WC, the percentages of central obesity and HOMA-IR were significantly higher in the groups with higher MUAC than those in the group with lower MUAC (all P < 0.05). Pearson analysis showed that MUAC was correlated with BMI, WC, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), logHOMA-IR, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), uric acid (UA) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in all subjects. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that MUAC was independently associated with logHOMA-IR (β = 0.036, P<0.001) after adjusting for age, gender, WHR, UA, TG, LDL-C and HDL-C. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that MUAC was an independent predictor of central obesity (OR: 2.129, 95%CI: 1.311–3.457, P = 0.002). Furthermore, MUAC≥30.9cm for male and ≥30.0cm for female were the optimal cutoff values for identifying central obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that among Chinese subjects with type 2 diabetes, MUAC is a simple and effective tool for the determination of central obesity and IR. Additionally, the larger MUAC is proved to be more associated with metabolic risk factors of higher UA and LDL-C and lowever HDL-C.