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DXA‐derived Abdominal Fat Mass, Waist Circumference, and Blood Lipids in Postmenopausal Women
Author(s) -
Vatanparast Hassanali,
Chilibeck Philip D.,
Cornish Stephen M.,
Little Jonathan P.,
PausJenssen Lisa S.,
Case Allison M.,
Biem H. Jay
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2009.80
Subject(s) - waist , medicine , circumference , abdominal obesity , quartile , body mass index , triglyceride , anthropometry , blood lipids , endocrinology , cholesterol , confidence interval , geometry , mathematics
The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA)‐derived fat mass indices for predicting blood lipid profile in postmenopausal women. A secondary purpose was to determine whether waist circumference is comparable with DXA‐derived measurements in predicting blood lipid profile. Subjects were 423 postmenopausal women (age 58.1 ± 6.3 years). Fat mass was assessed at abdomen, trunk, and total body using DXA. Anthropometric measurements included BMI and waist circumference. Blood samples were analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TAG), high‐density lipoprotein (HDL), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL), and cholesterol/HDL ratio. Of the DXA‐derived measures, abdominal‐fat mass was the best predictor of blood lipid profiles. DXA‐derived abdominal fat mass and waist girth explained 20 and 16.5% of variation in TC/HDL ratio, respectively, in univariate analysis, with no difference between the slopes of the regression coefficients. Eighty‐four percent of subjects were common to the top quartiles of waist circumference and abdominal fat mass, and blood lipid profiles generally worsened across increasing quartiles. DXA‐derived abdominal fat mass and waist circumference are of equivalent utility for predicting alterations in blood lipids. Waist circumference is, therefore, ideal as an inexpensive means in primary health‐care services for predicting risk of cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.