Metabolic Syndrome in postmenopausal women: prevalence, sensibility, and specificity of adiposity indices

Summary: Background and Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and the sensibility and specificity of adiposity indices in relation to MetS diagnosis in postmenopausal Brazilian women. Methods: Cross-sectional study nested a cohort with 152 postmenopausal women. Body composition was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method and biochemical markers of lipid and glucose profile were evaluated. We used the diagnostic criteria for MetS established by the International Diabetes Federation. To analyze the correlation of Waist Circumference (WC), Conicity Index (C-index), Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), Body Mass Index (BMI), Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), and percentage of DXA Fat (% F.DXA) with the MetS criteria it was used the Spearman's test. The cut-off points, area under the curve (AUC), sensibility and specificity of adiposity indices were determined using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC). Results: The prevalence of MetS was 65.13%. The adiposity indices, mainly VAI, showed a significant correlation with the majority of MetS criteria. Through ROC curves, WC, WHtR, and VAI presented higher AUC being the cut-off points followed: 81.10cm, 0.56, 24.24kg/m2, 40.15%, 1.50, 1.56 for WC, WHtR, BMI, %F.DXA, C-index, and VAI, respectively. Conclusion: This study has shown that postmenopausal women had a high prevalence of MetS and VAI was the highest predictor index assessed.