Philippine Journal of Science
152 (1): 97-108, February 2023
ISSN 0031 – 7683
Date Received: 01 Jun 2022

Validity of Body Roundness Index to Screen
Abnormal Blood Lipid among Filipino Adults

John Carlo R. Morillo1*, Ernani R. Bullecer1, and Chona Fernandez-Patalen2

1Department of Nutrition, College of Public Health, University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines
2Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology, Philippines

*Corresponding author:
jcmorillornd1@gmail.com; jrmorillo@up.edu.ph

[Download]
Morillo JC et al. 2023. Validity of Body Roundness Index to Screen
Abnormal Blood Lipid among Filipino Adults. Philipp J Sci 152(1): 97–108.
https://doi.org/10.56899/152.01.07

 

ABSTRACT

The body roundness index (BRI) was developed to provide a more accurate numerical quantifier of body roundness. The capability of BRI to predict body fat and visceral adipose tissue provides an impression that it may be capable of relating to cardiometabolic risks. This present study utilized the 8th National Nutrition Survey to determine the validity of BRI to screen for abnormal blood lipids among Filipino adults. The area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve (AUC) was used as the validity measure. BRI had AUCs of 0.641 (95% CI: 0.627–0.655) in men and 0.635 (95% CI: 0.621–0.649) in women. In terms of criterion validity, the AUCs of BRI were compared to the AUCs of widely accepted anthropometric indices – namely, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-hip ratio (WHR). BRI significantly outperformed WHR in men, BMI in women, and WC in both sexes in screening abnormal blood lipids. Therefore, BRI had a discriminative capability to screen for abnormal blood lipids among Filipino adults. The optimal BRI cut-off points for screening abnormal blood lipids were identified as 2.71 for men and 3.44 for women based on [a] the maximum Youden Index value and [b] a rule that sensitivity should be greater than specificity. Filipino adults whose BRI exceeds the sex-specific cut-off points for screening abnormal blood lipids might consider further screening or diagnosis of abnormal blood lipids for effective case management.