OBJECTIVE: In the early nineties, the conicity index was proposed for the assessment of body fat distribution based on weight, height and waist circumference measurements. The goal of this study was to identify the sensitivity, specificity and the best cut-off point for the conicity index as a predictor of high coronary risk. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study whose population comprised 968 adults between 30-74 years, of which 391 (40.4%) were males. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to identify the sensitivity and specificity of the best cut-off point of the conicity index as a predictor of high coronary risk. The statistical significance of the area under the ROC curve between the conicity index and a high coronary risk was also verified and a 95% confidence interval (CI) was utilized. RESULTS: The total area under the ROC curve between the conicity index and the coronary risk was 0.80, CI 95% (0.74-0.85) in males and 0.75, CI 95% (0.70-0.80) in females. The best cut-off points to discriminate high coronary risk in men and women were, respectively, 1.25 (73.91% sensitivity and 74.92% specificity) and 1.18 (73.39% sensitivity and 61.15% specificity). CONCLUSION: Results suggest that the conicity index may be used to identify high coronary risk, and must be compared to other anthropometric indicators of obesity.
Obesity; Conicity index; Coronary risk
