Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate hypertension with simple anthropometry data related to obesity in Korean adults and identify whether age specific waist circumference (WC) may be a useful screening tool for determining hypertension.
Methods: Subjects (n = 571) were classified into 3 groups by age; young (18-39 years), middle aged (40-64 years), and old aged (≥ 65 years). Correlations between demographic and anthropometric parameters and hypertension were performed using Spearman correlation analysis. Logistic regression analysis and ROC (receiver operating characteristics) curves were also analyzed for correlations with hypertension.
Results: Spearman correlation analyses, age, gender, WC, and body mass index were positively correlated with hypertension. When logistic regression analysis was performed, increased age and increased WC was associated with a higher incidence of hypertension, although gender and body mass index were not significantly related to hypertension. In ROC analysis of WC for hypertension demonstrated that patients in the old age group showed higher WC cutoff value than patients in the young and middle aged groups.
Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that WC may be a useful predictor of hypertension incidence among demographic and anthropometric factors in Korean adults. In addition, WC in the young population was more sensitive to the incidence of hypertension than in the elderly population.
Keywords: blood pressure; body mass index; hypertension; waist circumference.