Development of the Anthropometric Grouping Index for the Eastern Caribbean Population Using the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) Cohort Study Data

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 16; p. 10415
• Main Authors: Almodóvar-Rivera, Israel A, Rosario-Rosado, Rosa V, Nazario, Cruz M, Hernández-Santiago, Johan, Ramírez-Marrero, Farah A, Nunez, Maxime, Maharaj, Rohan, Adams, Peter, Martinez-Brockman, Josefa L, Tessier-Sherman, Baylah, Nunez-Smith, Marcella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.08.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Anthropometry; Blood; Blood Glucose; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Body measurements; Clustering; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Contraindications; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Families & family life; Family medical history; Genetics; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Obesity; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Population; Population Groups; Probability; Public health; Risk Factors; Statistical models; United States > US; Puerto Rico; ECHORN; distribution-free pairwise overlap; cluster analysis; Caribbean population; anthropometric grouping index
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191610415

Improving public health initiative requires an accurate anthropometric index that is better suited to a specific community. In this study, the anthropometric grouping index is proposed as a more efficient and discriminatory alternative to the popular BMI for the Eastern Caribbean population. A completely distribution-free cluster analysis was performed to obtain the 11 categories, leading to AGI-11. Further, we studied these groups using novel non-parametric clustering summaries. Finally, two generalized linear mixed models were fitted to assess the association between elevated blood sugar, AGI-11 and BMI. Our results showed that AGI-11 tends to be more sensitive in predicting levels of elevated blood sugar compared to BMI. For instance, individuals identified as obese III according to BMI are (POR: 2.57; 95% CI: (1.68, 3.74)) more likely to have elevated blood sugar levels, while, according to AGI, individuals with similar characteristics are (POR: 3.73; 95% CI: (2.02, 6.86)) more likely to have elevated blood sugar levels. In conclusion, the findings of the current study suggest that AGI-11 could be used as a predictor of high blood sugar levels in this population group. Overall, higher values of anthropometric measures correlated with a higher likelihood of high blood sugar levels after adjusting by sex, age, and family history of diabetes.