Anthropometric features in predicting insulin resistance among non-menopausal Indonesian adult females

Introduction. The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide in high, low, and middle-income countries such as Indonesia. Obesity rate is higher in females in Indonesia. Obesity has important contribution in the occurrence of insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Several anthropometric measurements such as waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), body mass (BM), total body fat percentage (Fat%) and visceral fat (VF) are related to IR. This study aimed to investigate which of those measurements could be used as a better predictor of IR in non-menopausal Indonesian adult females.

Methods. Total of 80 non-menopausal Indonesian adult females ranging from 21 to 40 years were recruited in this study. Insulin resistance was measured by using Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) equation. Subjects with HOMA-IR index >75^th percentile with cut-off 2.74 were defined as IR. Waist circumference, BMI and BM were measured, while TF and VF were measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).

Results. HOMA-IR had significant correlation with WC (r = 0.563, p < 0.001), BMI (r = 0.537, p < 0.001), BM (r = 0.515, p < 0.001), VF (r = 0.515, p < 0.001), Fat% (r = 0.490, p < 0.001). The area under curve of VF (0.809), BMI (0.807), WC (0.805), and BM (0.799) are slightly larger than and Fat% (0.766).

Conclusion. Insulin resistance had strong correlation with all anthropometric measurements, but the correlation was less significant with Fat%.