Assessing Predictive Power of the Abdominal Volume Index Compared to other Anthropometric Indices and Its Association with Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases

Obesity is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and may increase the prevalence of these factors. This study aimed to assess predictive power of the abdominal volume index compared to other anthropometric indices and its association with the risk of cardiovascular  diseases.

This cross-sectional study hired 300 men and non-pregnant women. Anthropometric parameters of the participants undergoing coronary angiography were measured based on the standard methods. Fasting blood samples were collected to assess hematologic parameters. Based on the result of angiography, participants were divided into two major groups with or without cardiovascular diseases. Pearsonchr('39')s correlation coefficient was used to show relationships and ROC curves for the sensitivity and specificity of the best cut off points were used.

From 300 participants, 231 patients had cardiovascular diseases and 68 patients with no stenosis in their arteries. Results revealed that the abdominal volume index included significant negative relationships with HDL-c and positively associated with the rates of TG/HDL-c, TC/HDL-c and LDL-c/HDL-c. Moreover, results showed that the abdominal volume index included the highest area under the curve (0/722), while the level of the waist-to-hip ratio included the lowest value (0/528).

This study suggests that abdominal obesity is a significant risk factor for the onset and development of the cardiovascular diseases, and use of the abdominal volume index to identify at-risk individuals is essential to prevent the disease progression.