Performance of anthropometric indices in early detection of diabetes and prediabetes in the Brazilian population: a cross-sectional study, Brazil, 2013.
- 1Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento Materno-infantil e Saúde Pública, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Departamento Materno-infantil e Saúde Pública Belo HorizonteMG Brazil.
- 2Universidade Federal de Goiás, Faculdade de Medicina, Goiânia, GO, Brazil Universidade Federal de Goiás Faculdade de Medicina GoiâniaGO Brazil.
Abstract
Objective
To assess the diagnostic performance of anthropometric adiposity metrics for diabetes and prediabetes detection in Brazilian adults.Methods
This was a cross-sectional study using data from national surveys, such as glycated hemoglobin laboratory test data. Diabetes was defined as glycated hemoglobin ≥6.5% or when hypoglycemic agents were being taken; prediabetes was defined as glycated hemoglobin ≥5.7% and <6.5%. Diabetes and prediabetes prevalence rates were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). The diagnostic performance of anthropometric indices - body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHR), and body shape index - were evaluated using the area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and Youden's index, stratified by sex and age group.Results
8,435 individuals participated in the study. Diabetes prevalence was 8.6% (95%CI 7.8; 9.3), while prediabetes prevalence was 16.2% (95%CI 15.1; 17.3). In males <40 years old, the AUC for the anthropometric indices was close to 0.5; among males between 40 and 59 years old, it ranged from 0.66 to 0.71; in older males, the AUC for WC was 0.72. Among females <40 years old, the WHR AUC was 0.77; for those between 40 and 59 years old, it ranged from 0.64 to 0.69; and in older females, the WC AUC was 0.66. The AUCs were lower for prediabetes: in males, they ranged from 0.58 to 0.63; while in females they ranged from 0.60 to 0.65.Conclusion
WC was the index with the best performance for differentiating individuals with diabetes, while the ROC curve showed greater accuracy among adults <60 years old.
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BibTeX
@article{tonaco2026performance,
title = {{Performance of anthropometric indices in early detection of diabetes and prediabetes in the Brazilian population: a cross-sectional study, Brazil, 2013.}},
author = {Luís Antônio Batista Tonaco and Mariana Santos Felisbino-Mendes and Alexandra Dias Moreira and Amanda Maria de Sousa Romeiro and Erika Aparecida Silveira and Maria José Silva Souza and Gustavo Velásquez-Meléndez},
journal = {Epidemiologia e servicos de saude : revista do Sistema Unico de Saude do Brasil},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1590/s2237-96222026v35e20240606.en},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42922781},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Performance of anthropometric indices in early detection of diabetes and prediabetes in the Brazilian population: a cross-sectional study, Brazil, 2013.
AU - Luís Antônio Batista Tonaco
AU - Mariana Santos Felisbino-Mendes
AU - Alexandra Dias Moreira
AU - Amanda Maria de Sousa Romeiro
AU - Erika Aparecida Silveira
AU - Maria José Silva Souza
AU - Gustavo Velásquez-Meléndez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/04
JO - Epidemiologia e servicos de saude : revista do Sistema Unico de Saude do Brasil
DO - 10.1590/s2237-96222026v35e20240606.en
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42922781
AB - Objective To assess the diagnostic performance of anthropometric adiposity metrics for diabetes and prediabetes detection in Brazilian adults.Methods This was a cross-sectional study using data from national surveys, such as glycated hemoglobin laboratory test data. Diabetes was defined as glycated hemoglobin ≥6.5% or when hypoglycemic agents were being taken; prediabetes was defined as glycated hemoglobin ≥5.7% and <6.5%. Diabetes and prediabetes prevalence rates were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). The diagnostic performance of anthropometric indices - body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHR), and body shape index - were evaluated using the area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and Youden's index, stratified by sex and age group.Results 8,435 individuals participated in the study. Diabetes prevalence was 8.6% (95%CI 7.8; 9.3), while prediabetes prevalence was 16.2% (95%CI 15.1; 17.3). In males <40 years old, the AUC for the anthropometric indices was close to 0.5; among males between 40 and 59 years old, it ranged from 0.66 to 0.71; in older males, the AUC for WC was 0.72. Among females <40 years old, the WHR AUC was 0.77; for those between 40 and 59 years old, it ranged from 0.64 to 0.69; and in older females, the WC AUC was 0.66. The AUCs were lower for prediabetes: in males, they ranged from 0.58 to 0.63; while in females they ranged from 0.60 to 0.65.Conclusion WC was the index with the best performance for differentiating individuals with diabetes, while the ROC curve showed greater accuracy among adults <60 years old.
SN - 1679-4974
SN - 2237-9622
ER -