Association of waist circumference with haemoglobin A1c and its optimal cutoff for identifying prediabetes and diabetes risk in the Chinese population

Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a marker of glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Increased waist circumference (WC) is known to be associated with T2DM. Therefore, we investigated the relationship of WC with HbA1c and explored its optimal cutoff for identifying prediabetes and diabetes risk. This study included 2339 participants between 18 and 84 years of age [mean (SD) age, 43.5 (11.9) years] with valid data on WC, HbA1c and related variables in the Shenzhen–Hong Kong United Network on Cardiovascular Disease study. Participants on anti-diabetic medications were excluded. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between HbA1c and WC. Cutoff values of WC indicating an HbA1c level of 5.7% and 6.5% were also assessed using optimal binning. There was a significant linear relationship between WC and HbA1c in the overall population (B = 0.261, P < 0.001), men (B = 0.206, P < 0.001) and women (B = 0.311, P < 0.001). After adjustment for smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and age, the association remained significant in the overall population (B = 0.201, P < 0.001), men (B = 0.186, P < 0.001) and women (B = 0.182, P < 0.001). The optimal cutoff values of WC indicating an HbA1c level of 5.7% and 6.5% was 83 cm (entropy = 0.943) and 85 cm (entropy = 0.365) in men, and 78 cm (entropy = 0.922) and 86 cm (entropy = 0.256) in women. The linear relationship between WC and HbA1c in this study suggests that addressing central obesity issue is beneficial to people with T2DM or at risk of T2DM. WC cutoff values of 85 cm for men and 86 cm for women are appropriate for recommendation to undergo diabetes screening. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11739-022-03072-z.