The association between waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with diabetes in the PERSIAN Guilan cohort study population

Waist circumference (WC), or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), potentially offers a more accurate reflection of intra-abdominal fat accumulation and could serve as a superior predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk compared to BMI. The current study investigated the relationship between WHR and its influencing factors among diabetes patients enrolled in the Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in Iran (PERSIAN) Guilan Cohort study (PGCS).

In this cross-sectional study of 10,520 participants, 2,531 had T2DM. Waist and hip circumference, body mass index (BMI), underlying diseases, and demographical data of participants were recorded. Also, fasting blood sugar (FBS), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG) were assessed. All data was analyzed using SPSS version 16; the significant level was < 0.05.

The mean age of participants was 51.52 ± 8.90 years, and 39.9% had a BMI between 25 and 30 kg/m². The prevalence of diabetes was 24.1% (n = 2531). About 7628 (72.5%) individuals had abnormal WHR, and 2072 (19.7%) were diabetics. Among patients with diabetes, abnormal WHR was significantly associated with age over 50, female gender, higher BMI, and lower LDL (P < 0.05).

The study showed a higher prevalence of abnormal WHR in diabetic patients. Abnormal WHR in patients with diabetes was significantly associated with age, gender, and BMI.