Receiver-operated characteristics (ROCs) of the relationships between obesity indices and multiple risk factors (MRFs) for atherosclerosis at different ages in men and women

The aim of this study was to clarify whether age affects ROC curves for the relationships between obesity indices and MRFs for atherosclerosis. Subjects were 35-70-year-old men (n=37,697) and women (n=19,891) who received health checkup examinations. ROC curves were analyzed for relationships of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) with MRFs for atherosclerosis consisting of two or more risk factors (RFs) of metabolic syndrome (MetS) including high blood pressure, dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia and/or hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia) and hyperglycemia. Both in men and women, AUC (area under the curve) of the ROC curves tended to be smaller as age increased. In women, cut-off values of WHtR tended to be higher as age increased, while no apparent relationships were found between age and cut-off values of BMI and WC in women and between age and cut-off values of the three obesity indices in men. The results suggest that both in men and women, the associations between obesity and MRFs for atherosclerosis become weaker as age increases, while age does not influence cut-off values of obesity indices except for higher WHtR at an older age in women.