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Medical devices
Description and evaluation of a self-operated waist measurement device
  1. Yilin Song1,
  2. Kenneth A Philbrick2,
  3. Alexander D Weston3,
  4. Theodora Potretzke4,
  5. Kelli A Lytle1,
  6. Teresa Jensen5,
  7. Michael Dennis Jensen1
  1. 1 Department of Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
  2. 2 Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
  3. 3 Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
  4. 4 Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
  5. 5 Department of Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Michael Dennis Jensen; jensen{at}mayo.edu

Abstract

Background National guidelines recommend that waist circumference (WC) be measured in patients with a body mass index (BMI) 27–35 kg/m2. Unfortunately, perhaps due to logistical reasons, WC is seldom measured in clinical settings. Herein, we describe the performance of a self-operated waist measurement device (SOWMD) as a potential means to overcome barriers to measuring WC.

Materials and methods Ten volunteers underwent WC measures by professionals and SOWMD on 5 separate days to assess the reproducibility and accuracy. We then compared SOWMD measures with CT-derived fat content by recruiting 81 patients scheduled for a diagnostic abdominal CT scan.

Results There was no difference between professionally measured and SOWMD-measured WC; the intraindividual coefficient of variation over the 5 days was between 0.4% and 2.2%. The WC measured manually, by SOWMD and CT scan were highly correlated (r=0.90–0.92, all p<0.001). The minimal WC measured by SOWMD was a better predictor (r=0.81 for all patients, r=0.87 for men, both p<0.001) of CT-measured visceral adipose tissue volume than other approaches. The minimal WC measured by SOWMD was correlated with fasting plasma glucose (r=0.40, p<0.05), triglyceride (r=0.41, p<0.01) and high-density cholesterol (r=−0.49, p<0.001) concentrations.

Conclusion SOWMD is a reproducible, accurate and convenient way to measure WC that can provide added value for health care providers when combined with BMI information.

  • Diabetes Mellitus
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Patient Care
  • Primary Healthcare

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjinnov-2023-001162

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    Footnotes

    • X @gloriasong88

    • Contributors TBJ and MDJ equally contributed to the conception and design of the research of device; YS contributed to participant recruitment, data collection and interpretation, and manuscript drafting; MDJ and KL contributed to data analysis and manuscript editions; KAP and ADW contributed to the design and development of the software obtaining and analysing the SOWMD data; TP contributed with overseeing and communicating with Radiology Department to ensure the study process.

    • Funding This study was supported by Mayo Clinic Office of Translation to Practice (MYC-002 PWCMD).

    • Competing interests Mayo Clinic, Michael D. Jensen and Teresa B. Jensen have financial conflicts of interest related to this research related to a patent pending at the time the research was conducted.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer-reviewed.