Anthropometric indices as screening tools for cardiovascular risk factors in Singaporean women

Previous studies have suggested the need to revise the World Health Organization (WHO) cut-off values for the various indices of obesity and fat distribution in Singapore. The purpose of this study was to delineate cut-off points of body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), and waist-stature ratio (WSR) as screening tools for cardiovascular risk factors in Singaporean women. Anthropometric indices were measured in a cross sectional survey of 566 subjects (60% Chinese individuals, 28% Malay individuals and 12% Indian individuals). Cardiovascular risk factors were determined by measuring blood pressure, serum lipids, and fasting blood glucose levels. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to determine cut-off points. Forward logistic regression and area under curves (AUC) were used to determine the best anthropometric index. For at least one cardiovascular risk factor (hypertension, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus), the cut-off points for BMI, WHR, WC and WSR were around 23.6kg/m 2 , 0.80, 77.8cm and 0.48 for Singaporean females. The AUC of WSR was the highest for all three risk factors in females (0.79 for hypertension, 0.70 for dyslipidaemia, 0.88 for diabetes mellitus). Regression analyses revealed that WSR was independently associated with all risk factors. For Singaporean female adults, the cut-off points were lower than the criteria suggested by the WHO, but were in agreement with those reported for Asians. BMI, WHR, WC and WSR may be used as screening tools for cardiovascular risk factors, of which WSR may be the best anthropometric index

Delivering healthcare services to children with cerebral palsy and their families: a narrative review

What is known about this topic • Approaches to healthcare service delivery for children with cerebral palsy and their families have changed in recent decades. • Dissatisfaction with care continues for parents of children with cerebral palsy. • It is unclear which approaches to healthcare service delivery are supported by the literature, and how they are applied in clinical practice. What this paper adds • Approaches to healthcare service delivery for children with cerebral palsy supported in the literature are family-centred care, the World Abstract Children with cerebral palsy have complex healthcare needs and often require complex multidisciplinary care. It is important for clinicians to understand which approaches to healthcare service delivery for this population are supported in the literature and how these should be applied in clinical practice. This narrative review aims to identify and review the evidence for current approaches to healthcare service delivery for children with cerebral palsy. Databases were searched using key terms to identify relevant research articles and grey literature from December 2011 to September 2013. Search results were screened and sorted according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Thirty-two documents were included for evaluation and their content was analysed thematically. Three current approaches to healthcare service delivery for children with cerebral palsy identified in this narrative review were family-centred care, the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, and collaborative community-based primary care. However, healthcare services for children with cerebral palsy and their families are inconsistently delivered according to these approaches and the identified guidelines or standards of care for children with cerebral palsy have limited incorporation of these approaches. Future research is required to investigate how these approaches to healthcare service delivery can be integrated into clinical practices to enable clinicians to improve services for this population