Association of Waist to Height Ratio and Waist Circumference to Glycated Hemoglobin in New Onset Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Blacks

Abstract

Backgrounds: Anthropometric measurements play a vital role in clinical assessment, decision making and diagnosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, case-controlled, multicenter study. A purposeful sampling technique was used to recruit 50 newly diagnosed type 2 DM subjects within 3 weeks of their diagnosis. Also, apparently healthy 50 non-diabetic with no significant medical history were recruited as controls. Waist Circumference (WC) was measured and Waist to Height Ratio (WHtR) was calculated. Results: There were 32 males and 68 females, with Male: Female ratio of 1:2. A Multiple linear regression analysis model was not statistically significant, F (2,97) = 0.884, p = .416, with an R² of .018 and an adjusted R² of −.002. WC and WHtR jointly explained approximately 1.8% of the variance in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).The lowest mean of HbA1c was in the control group (5.4%), then total (general ) population group (6.9%) while the new onset type 2 DM patients group had the highest (8.3%).WHtR was not a significant independent predictor (B = 13.889, β = .393, p = .292, 95% CI: −12.125 to 39.903) of HbA1c.A Sudanese study also reported no significant correlation between WHtR and HbA1c. Conclusion: WC and WHtR decreases in size and number as we move from a cohort of new onset type 2 DM patient to the general population and then to a control group.