Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the abilities of WC, WHR, BMI and WSR as anthropometric indices to assess and predict hypertension in immigrant Tamil women. A total of one hundred adult immigrant Tamil women from Kolkata, West Bengal, India were evaluated in the present cross-sectional study. Bio-social data (age and ethnicity), anthropometry (stature, weight, minimum waist circumference and hip circumference)and blood pressure (systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) measurements were obtained. Body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR) and waist stature ratio (WSR) were subsequently derived. Statistical analysis includes receiver operating characteristics curve and logistic regression. The results revealed that apart from the WHR and BMI, area under the ROC curves of waist circumference (WC) and WSR were significantly higher. However, area under the ROC curve for WSR (AUC 0.630, 95% CI 0.515 to 0.745, p<0.05) was slightly larger than WC (AUC 0.629, 95% CI 0.516 to 0.742, p<0.05) in assessing hypertension. Odd ratios of BMI and WHR were also lower than that of WC and WSR. Odd ratio associated with a 1 cm increase in WC was 1.80 (95% CI: 1.09 to 2.98, p<0.05) and a 0.1 unit increase in WSR was also 1.80 (95% CI: 1.07 to 3.03, p<0.05). The result of the present study showed that both WC and WSR had similar efficacy and were superior to both BMI and WHR. Among different anthropometric indicators of obesity WSR could be a useful screening tool for predicting hypertension.
Keywords: Anthropometry; Obesity; Hypertension; Immigrant; Tamil; Waist Stature Ratio.