Background: As the metabolic significance of sarcopenic obesity (SO) is revealed, finding an appropriate index to detect SO is important, especially for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with accompanying metabolic dysfunction.
Methods: Participants (n=515) from the Korea Guro Diabetes Program were included to compare how well waist circumference (WC), waist hip ratio (WHR), waist height ratio (WHtR), and the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) predict SO in newly diagnosed T2DM patients. Sarcopenia was defined based on guidelines from the 2019 Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia as both low muscle mass (appendicular skeletal muscle [ASM]/height2 <7.0 kg/m2 for men, <5.4 kg/m2 for women) and strength (handgrip strength <28.0 kg for men, <18.0 kg for women) and/or reduced physical performance (gait speed <1.0 m/sec). Obesity was defined as a WC ≥90 cm in men and ≥85 cm in women. The WHR, WHtR, and WWI were calculated by dividing the WC by the hip circumference, height, and √ weight, respectively.
Results: The WC, WHR, and WHtR correlated positively with the fat and muscle mass represented by truncal fat amount (TFA) and ASM, whereas the WWI was proportional to the TFA and inversely related to ASM. Of the four indices, the WWI showed the highest area under the receiver operative characteristic curve for SO. The WWI also exhibited a positive correlation with albuminuria and the mean brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, especially in patients aged ≥65 years.
Conclusion: The WWI is the preferable anthropometric index for predicting SO in T2DM patients, and it might be a proper index for predicting cardiometabolic risk factors in elderly people.
Keywords: Anthropometric index; Sarcopenic obesity; Type2 diabetes mellitus.