Effectiveness of A Body Shape Index (ABSI) in predicting chronic diseases and mortality: a systematic review and meta ‐analysis

Summary Anthropometric measures are simple, inexpensive, noninvasive tools to assess the risk of morbidity and mortality. This systematic review assessed the performance of A Body Shape Index (ABSI) in predicting hypertension, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and all‐cause mortality and compared the differential predictability between ABSI and two other common anthropometric measures – body mass index and waist circumference. A keyword and reference search were conducted in the PubMed and Web of Science for articles published until 1 November 2017. Thirty‐eight studies were included in the review, including 24 retrospective cohort studies and 14 cross‐sectional studies conducted in 15 countries. Meta‐analysis found that a standard deviation increase in ABSI was associated with an increase in the odds of hypertension by 13% and type 2 diabetes by 35% and an increase in cardiovascular disease risk by 21% and all‐cause mortality risk by 55%. ABSI outperformed body mass index and waist circumference in predicting all‐cause mortality but underperformed in predicting chronic diseases. ABSI is highly clustered around the mean with a rather small variance, making it difficult to define a clinical cutoff for clinical practice. Future studies are warranted to assess ABSI's potential usefulness as an anthropometric measure in population‐level health surveillance.
Source: Obesity Reviews - Category: Eating Disorders & Weight Management Authors: Tags: Obesity Comorbidities/Etiology and Pathophysiology Source Type: research