Optimal cutoff points for the detection of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome in Mexican adults

objective: to compare the waist circumference cutoff points established by the american heart association and the national heart, lung and blood institute (aha/nhlbi) with those of the international diabetes federation (idf) for the screening of diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome in mexican adults. material and methods: this study comprised a subsample of the ensanut 2006. subjects without diabetes and hypertension and non-pregnant women were included. sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were compared using auc and the positive likelihood ratio test [lr(+)]. results: in subjects aged ≥40 years, sensitivity for detection of diabetes and hypertension was higher for the idf thresholds (85.34 and 86.87%, respectively) compared with those of the aha/nhlbi (59.49 and 52.41%, respectively). lr(+) were higher for idf thresholds compared with aha/nhlbi. similar results in subjects aged ≥65 years were observed. conclusions: the measurement of abdominal obesity defined by the idf was a better screening tool for diabetes and hypertension, considering that initially a high sensitivity and low cost tool at population level is required.