Jithendra Chaitanya Gubbala1 , Thanuj Reddy K. V.2 , Prabhakar K.
BACKGROUND Various studies indicate that neck circumference may be an independent correlate of metabolic risk factors beyond BMI and waist circumference. Besides, NC is considered to be an index of upper body obesity and correlates positively with changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and other components of the metabolic syndrome. This study was conducted to evaluate the association between neck circumference and metabolic syndrome. METHODS This is a cross sectional study conducted in the department of general medicine of R. L. Jalappa Hospital, Tamaka, and Kolar. IDF Criteria were used for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome among subjects. RESULTS 161 subjects were included in the study. In our study 58 out of 161 subjects were female and 103 out of 161 subjects were male with a male to female ratio of approximately 2:1. Mean age of the study subjects was 55.76 ± 13.1 yrs. Out of 161 subjects 86 (53%) subjects had metabolic syndrome and 75 (46.6%) did not have metabolic syndrome. Mean age of the study subjects was 55.76 ± 13.1 yrs. Overall, the mean neck circumference with Metabolic Syndrome is 37.11 cms with an SD of 1.66 cms. Mean neck circumference without Metabolic Syndrome is 34.62 with an of SD 2.29 cms. There was a statistically significant difference between mean neck circumference and metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS Neck Circumference may be used as a simple, cost effective and time-saving screening measure to identify cardio metabolic risk factors in patients. Patients with abnormal neck circumference should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors and followed up at regular intervals to detect abnormality at the earliest for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
