ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Obesity has caused several health problems, driven by industrialization, technological advances, urbanization, and lifestyle; these aspects are related to cardiovascular disorders. Several factors are associated with population health problems, which can be previously identified through simple techniques such as anthropometric measurements and risk scores, used to determine potential risks.
Objective:
To relate anthropometric variables with the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) in rural workers.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study with 138 rural workers, who completed a lifestyle questionnaire, anthropometric, biochemical, and cardiovascular evaluation and FRS evaluation. The anthropometry was estimated using the indicators body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), conicity index (CI), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR); the biochemical profile identified total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and glycemia; the cardiovascular function was evaluated by systolic blood pressure and resting diastolic blood pressure. From this information, the subjects were classified according to the FRS in G1 (low risk), G2 (intermediate risk) and G3 (high risk). The statistical analyses consisted of frequency and percentage, comparison of means by Kruskal-Wallis test, and correlation of Pearson or Spearman, considering p<0.05.
Results:
Regarding FRS, 81.4% of the female subjects and 51.9% male showed low cardiovascular risk, with more than half of workers with inadequate responses in WHR (58.7%), WHtR (67.4 %), TC (58.0%) and LDL (52.9%). In the relation between the total of absolute points of FRS and the anthropometric variables, WC and WHtR showed weak correlations (0.293 and 0.175, respectively) and WHR and CI showed moderate correlations (0.475 and 0.459, respectively).
Conclusion:
Some anthropometric indicators (WHR and CI) had stronger relationships with FRS, indicating that they are more effective in certain populations, besides implying the higher probability of cardiovascular events in rural workers. Level of Evidence III; Diagnostic studies - Investigating a diagnostic test.
Keywords:
Anthropometry; Adiposity; Life style; Health promotion; Occupational health.