Accuracy of self-reported waist circumference in classifying children with cardiometabolic risk factors clustering

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to validate the self-reported waist circumference (SRWC) against assessor measured waist circumference (MWC) and to evaluate the accuracy of SRWC in classifying children with cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) clustering and overweight/obese status. Methods:A cross-sectional cluster random sampleaged 6-18 years with the self-reported body weight(BW) and height(BH) and SRWC were used for data analysis.Anthropometric measures and blood pressure were taken. Fasting blood samples were collected for fasting plasma glucose and lipid profile measurement. Results: A total of 515 boys and 711 girls were eligible for data analysis. The agreement between SRWC and MWC was assessed by ICC ranging from 0.77 to 0.87. The SRWC values to classify children with CMRFs clustering exhibited moderate to moderately high sensitivity (95% CI) [68%(0.43-0.87) for boys and 84%(0.60-0.97) for girls] and specificity [70%(0.66-0.74) for boys and 72%(0.68-0.75) for girls]. The area under the receiver operating characteristics [AUC-ROCs(95% CI)] ranged from acceptable to excellent [from 0.76(0.68-0.84) for boys to 0.83(0.76-0.90) for girls] in classifying children with CMRFs clustering. The SRWC values to classify overweight/obesity children showed moderately high sensitivity [74%(0.66-0.81) for boys and 77%(0.69-0.84) for girls] and specificity [78%(0.74-0.82) for boys and 82%(0.79-0.85) for girls]. The AUC-ROCs (95% CI) ranged from acceptable to excellent [from 0.84(0.80-0.88) to 0.84(0.79-0.88)] in classifying children with CMRFs clustering and overweight/obesity. Conclusions SRWC shows high validity to detect MWC and could be used as a screening tool for classifying children with CMRFs clustering and overweight/obesity status in Hong Kong Chinese children.