The inter-operator variability in measuring waist circumference and its potential impact on the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome

Abstract

Measuring waist circumference is subject to significant inter-operator variability and could potentially lead to misclassifying patients as having the MetS, or not. Better training of health professionals on how to measure waist circumference properly is needed in order to ensure that patients are not misclassified and that international comparisons of the prevalence of the MetS are reliable.