[A study on the relationship between adult waist-to-height ratio and the incidence of chronic complications of diabetes in China].

Objective

To explore the relationship between waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and the risk of chronic complications in adults in 11 provinces of China, and to evaluate its value in predicting the risk of diabetic complications.

Methods

A total of 3 466 patients with type 2 diabetes from 60 monitoring sites across 11 provinces in China, with an average follow-up of 6.34 years, were included in this study. Patients were grouped into WHtR quartiles, and unconditional multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between WHtR and the risk of chronic diabetic complications.

Results

Among the 3 466 patients, 267 developed microvascular complications, 425 developed macrovascular complications, and 75 developed diabetic foot. After adjusting for confounding factors and using patients with WHtR <0.45 as the reference group, patients with WHtR ≥0.55 had a 1.36-fold increased risk of developing microvascular complications (OR=2.36, 95%CI: 1.11-5.05), and a 4.36-fold increased risk of developing diabetic foot (OR=5.36, 95%CI: 1.16-24.88). At the same time, there was no significant difference in the risk of macrovascular complications.

Conclusion

WHtR ≥0.55 increases the risk of microvascular complications and diabetic foot in patients with diabetes, and can serve as a simple screening indicator for the early detection and intervention of chronic complications in patients with type 2 diabetes.