Correlation between indicators of abdominal obesity and serum lipids in the elderly.

OBJECTIVE To verify the correlation between anthropometric indicators of abdominal obesity and serum lipids in the elderly. METHODS Cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study conducted with elderly individuals of both genders enrolled in the Family Health Strategy Program of Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. Abdominal obesity was assessed by waist circumference (WC), abdominal circumference (AC), and waist/hip ratio (WHR). Lipid profile was verified by levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and non-high density lipoprotein (non-HDL). RESULTS A total of 321 elderly patients were evaluated (67.6% women). There were significant correlations between abdominal obesity indicators and lipid levels only in the group of women. WC, AC, and WHR correlated with TG and HDL. Only WHR showed correlation with non-HDL. The highest correlations were observed between WHR and TG (r = 0.292, p < 0.01) and between WC and HDL (r = -0.281, p < 0.01). WC was a predictor of 9.2% of the variation in HDL, and WHR was a predictor of 7.3% of the variation in TG. CONCLUSION The indicators of abdominal obesity that best correlated with serum lipids in elderly women were WC and WHR. They were predictors of alterations in HDL and TG levels in women, respectively.