Sex difference in the associations among obesity-related indices with incidence of diabetes mellitus in a large Taiwanese population follow-up study

Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 20:11:1094471. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1094471. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes mellitus (DM), which is in turn a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease and stroke. As few studies have investigated sex differences in the association between obesity and incidence of DM, the aim of this longitudinal study was to explore this issue in a large group of Taiwanese participants.

Methods: A total of 24,346 participants were enrolled in this study, of whom 8,334 (mean age, 50.6 ± 11.0 years) were male and 16,012 (mean age, 50.5 ± 10.1 years) were female. The following obesity-related indices were studied: body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body roundness index, conicity index (CI), body adiposity index, abdominal volume index, lipid accumulation product (LAP), and visceral adiposity index (VAI).

Results: The analysis showed significant associations between all of these indices with incidence of DM (all p < 0.001). In the male participants, the strongest predictors for incidence of DM were LAP (AUC = 0.692), WHtR (AUC = 0.684), and WHR (AUC = 0.683). In the female participants, the strongest predictors were LAP (AUC = 0.744), WHtR (AUC = 0.710) and VAI (AUC = 0.710), followed by BRI (AUC = 0.708).

Conclusion: Strong associations were found between the studied obesity-related indices and incidence of DM, and sex differences were found. Hence, to better control DM, reducing body weight may be beneficial in addition to lifestyle modifications, diet control, and pharmacological interventions.

Keywords: Taiwan biobank; follow-up; incident diabetes mellitus; obesity-related index; sex difference.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Diabetes Mellitus* / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity / complications
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Sex Characteristics*

Grants and funding

This work was supported partially by the Research Center for Precision Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan and by Kaohsiung Medical University Research Center Grant (KMU-TC111A01 and KMUTC111IFSP01).