DETERMINING NEW ANTHROPOMETRIC MARKERS FOR SCREENING TYPE 2 DM IN A CARIBBEAN REGION.

Abstract

The prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the Caribbean is high. BMI has been criticized as a measure for predicting T2 DM development because it does not discern between fat mass and muscle mass, nor does it reect an individual's fat distribution. The primary objective of the study was to determine the association between Indices using height, waist, hip, thigh, arm, and wrist circumference (cm) with development of T2 DM by comparing it to existing markers in test subjects and assessing their feasibility as predictive indicators for the development of Type 2 DM. In a cross-sectional study, a total of 331 subjects were involved in the study utilizing health centers and health camps in St Kitts (West Indies). Height was measured using Stadiometer, Weight using a calibrated digital weighing scale. Waist, hip, thigh, arm, and wrist circumference (cm) was measured using calibrated tape. ABI (Arav Body Index) is measured using a ratio of Waist and Combined Thigh & Height, Thigh to waist ratio (TWR) and Wrist to arm ratio (WAR) was compared to WHtR, WHR and BMI. ABI had the highest AUROC value among the ve adiposity indices (0.803, 95% condence interval [CI], 0.755 to 0.851; 0.785, 95% CI, 0.735 to 0.835 for WHtR; WHtR (0.785), WTR (0.672), WAR (0.652) and BMI (0.626). The cutoff values for ABI were 0.43. Among subjects with ABI less than 0.42, 83.8% (129) did not have type 2 DM and ABI more than 0.48, 90.2 % (51) had T2 DM. Hence, higher ABI strongly correlates with development of T2 DM. We conclude that ABI could be a more reliable tool for identifying individuals at risk of developing type 2 DM. This will help at-risk individuals to take preventive measures like lifestyle modication.