<b>Objective: </b>Various organizations have highlighted
the need to examine whether abdominal obesity cut-points are appropriate for identification
of cardiovascular risk among ethnic minority adults, particularly
Hispanic/Latino living in western societies. This study aimed (1) to establish
optimal definitions for abdominal obesity among Hispanic/Latinos, and (2)
determine the level of agreement between the presence of metabolic syndrome diagnosed
by the current Joint Interim Statement (IJS) definition and an updated
definition with optimal abdominal obesity cut points.
<p><b>Research Design and Methods:</b> The sample included
16,289 adults who self-identified as Hispanic/Latino ages 18-74 years enrolled
in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). Receiving
operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to derive sensitivity and
specificity values. The largest sum of sensitivity plus specificity was used to
determine appropriate cut-points. </p>
<p><b>Results:</b> Among US Hispanic/Latino adults, waist
circumference cut points of >102 cm in men (in line with current IJS
criteria) and >97 cm (9 points higher than IJS criteria) in women provide
optimal discrimination for cardiovascular risk as judged by the presence of coronary
heart disease. When using these cut points to create an updated metabolic
syndrome definition among women, we found disagreement between our updated
definition and the current IJS criteria. The prevalence of the metabolic
syndrome was overestimated by about 5% points among women based on IJS criteria
when compared to our definition. </p>
<p><b>Conclusions: </b>Our results suggest that the current
recommendations for waist circumference cut-points may not be appropriate for
US Hispanic/Latino women. </p>
Risk factor control across the spectrum of cardiovascular risk: Findings from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)
