Triglyceride Glucose-Waist Circumference Is Superior to Other Biochemical Indicators for Diagnosing Prehypertension and Hypertension

Background: In situations with economic issues and limited resourc-es, prevention and early detection of hypertension are essential for its control. Diagnosis and treatment require considerable expenses, which could lead to an incomplete diagnosis and, therefore, a higher prevalence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of eight biochemical indices as diagnostic tools for prehypertension and hypertension. Methods: This is a diagnostic testing study. The variables were hy-pertension and prehypertension. Among the markers evaluated were triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), cho-lesterol/HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)/HDL-C, visceral adiposity index, lipid accumulation product, the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, TyG-waist circumference (TyG-WC), and TyG-body mass index (TyG-BMI). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used as a statistical and graphical method to evalu-ate diagnostic capacity, as well as the area under the curve (AUC) cor-responding to each response variable. Sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) were calculated, along with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Results: The prevalence of undiagnosed prehypertension and hyper-tension was 6.88% and 2.72%, respectively. The TyG-WC has been the best indicator for both prehypertension: AUC = 0.712 (95% CI: 0.650 -0.775), cutoff = 762.56, Se = 90.74 (95% CI: 79.70 -96.92), and Sp = 45.24 (95% CI: 41.61 -48.92), in terms of diagnostic capac-ity. The same applies to hypertension: AUC = 0.801 (95% CI: 0.718 -0.883), cutoff = 862.57, Se = 81.81 (95% CI: 59.72 -94.81), and Sp Conclusions: The TyG-WC is the best diagnostic tool for prehyper- tension and hypertension; hence, it is necessary to conduct prospec- tive research to verify these findings. If confirmed, the TyG-WC can be used as a marker for the prognosis of these two conditions and, thus, to make decisions about prevention.