Interest of the waist-to-height ratio to predict metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabeticpatients.

Introduction : Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined as a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Aim: To determine the optimal cut-off point of the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) at which MetS can be identified with maximum sensitivity and specificity in a sample of Tunisian type 2 diabetic patients. Methods: We enrolled 457 type 2 diabetic patients in a cross-sectional study. Blood pressure, anthropometric indices, fasting glucose, and lipid profile were measured. WHtR was calculated. MetS was defined according to the IDF criteria. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to identify the optimal cut-off value of WHtR in MetS screening with maximum sensitivity and specificity. Results: The overall prevalence of MetS was 79.8%, it was higher in women than in men (85.5% vs 61.4%; p<10(-3)). Macrovascular complications were significantly higher among patients with MetS. WHtR was more powerful for predicting MetS in men than in women (Area under ROC curve was 0.913 and 0.761 respectively). The optimal WHtR cut-off value to identify subjects with MetS was 0.55 in men and 0.63 in women. Conclusion: MetS is a common finding in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. WHtR was an ideal tool to predict MetS in men but not in women. Prospective studies with larger cohorts may be required to determine the validity of our results.