BACKGROUND The metabolic syndrome (MetS) has shown strong associations with the hypertriglyceridemic waist (HW) phenotype. The best anthropometric indicator of MetS remains controversial. Furthermore, no studies have investigated alternative indices that could replace waist circumference in the HW phenotype. The objectives of this study were to find the best indicator of MetS among anthropometric indices and to examine the predictive power of phenotypes consisting of triglyceride levels with anthropometric indices. METHODS A total of 12,025 subjects participated in this retrospective cross-sectional study. All subjects were recruited between November 2016 and August 2007 from hospitals in 28 urban and rural regions in South Korea. The data analyzed in this study were obtained from the Korean Health and Genome Epidemiology Study database and the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine. RESULTS The proportion of patients with MetS ranged from 9 to 57% according to age and gender groups. Waist circumference (WC) was best indicator of MetS in men of all age groups. However, in women aged 40-49 years, the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) was the best indicator of MetS. Rib circumference and chest circumference were the strongest indicators in women aged 50-59 years and 70-79 years, respectively. The combination of WC and triglyceride (TG) was the best indicator of MetS in men and women overall. However, interestingly, the best indicator was TG + WHtR in women aged 40-49 years and TG + forehead-to-waist ratio in women aged 70-79 years. CONCLUSIONS The best indicator of MetS in terms of individual anthropometric indices and the various phenotypes combining a single anthropometric index with TG may differ subtly according to age group in women, but not in men. Our findings provide insight into a simple and inexpensive method that could be used to identify MetS in initial health screening efforts in epidemiology and public health.

中文翻译：

---

在韩国成年人中使用甘油三酸酯水平与人体测量指标组成的表型鉴定代谢综合征。

背景技术代谢综合征（MetS）已经显示出与高甘油三酸酯腰（HW）表型的强烈关联。关于MetS的最佳人体测量指标仍存在争议。此外，尚无研究调查可替代HW表型腰围的替代指标。这项研究的目的是在人体测量指标中找到最佳的MetS指标，并检验由甘油三酸酯水平与人体测量指标组成的表型的预测能力。方法共有12025名受试者参加了这项回顾性横断面研究。所有受试者均于2016年11月至2007年8月之间从韩国28个城乡地区的医院招募。本研究中分析的数据来自韩国健康与基因组流行病学研究数据库和韩国东方医学研究所。结果根据年龄和性别，MetS患者的比例为9％至57％。腰围（WC）是所有年龄段男性中MetS的最佳指标。但是，在40-49岁的女性中，腰高比（WHtR）是MetS的最佳指标。肋骨围和胸围分别是50-59岁和70-79岁女性的最强指标。WC和甘油三酸酯（TG）的组合是男女总体MetS的最佳指标。然而，有趣的是，最佳指标是40-49岁女性的TG + WHtR和70-79岁女性的TG +前腰比。结论就个体人体测量指标以及结合单个人体测量指标和TG的各种表型而言，MetS的最佳指标可能会根据女性的年龄段而有所不同，但男性没有此差异。我们的发现提供了一种简单而廉价的方法的见解，该方法可用于在流行病学和公共卫生的初始健康筛查工作中鉴定MetS。