Table 3. Correlation between WC and each components of metabolic syndrome.

Variables	Age group (years)										Comparison of correlation coefficients
	All		<40		40–49		50–59		⩾60		<40 vs ⩾60	50–59 vs ⩾60
	r	P	r	P	r	P	r	P	r	P	aP	aP
Men
Systolic pressure (mm Hg)	0.29	<0.001	0.39	<0.001	0.33	<0.001	0.22	<0.001	0.20	<0.001	<0.001	0.435
Diastolic pressure (mm Hg)	0.30	<0.001	0.37	<0.001	0.30	<0.001	0.23	<0.001	0.22	<0.001	<0.001	0.547
Log triglycerides	0.35	<0.001	0.39	<0.001	0.32	<0.001	0.34	<0.001	0.29	<0.001	<0.001	0.010
HDL cholesterol (mmol l−1)	−0.33	<0.001	−0.35	<0.001	−0.35	<0.001	−0.32	<0.001	−0.32	<0.001	0.057	0.660
Log fasting plasma glucose	0.23	<0.001	0.27	<0.001	0.26	<0.001	0.21	<0.001	0.14	<0.001	<0.001	0.002
Women
Systolic pressure (mm Hg)	0.34	<0.001	0.35	<0.001	0.33	<0.001	0.26	<0.001	0.20	<0.001	<0.001	0.036
Diastolic pressure (mm Hg)	0.31	<0.001	0.31	<0.001	0.30	<0.001	0.24	<0.001	0.20	<0.001	<0.001	0.164
Log triglycerides	0.36	<0.001	0.30	<0.001	0.33	<0.001	0.32	<0.001	0.29	<0.001	0.713	0.144
HDL cholesterol (mmol l−1)	−0.29	<0.001	−0.29	<0.001	−0.31	<0.001	−0.29	<0.001	−0.38	<0.001	0.001	<0.001
Log fasting plasma glucose	0.22	<0.001	0.23	<0.001	0.24	<0.001	0.20	<0.001	0.05	0.185	<0.001	<0.001

Abbreviations: HDL cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; r, correlation coefficients using simple correlation analysis between WC and each components of metabolic syndrome; WC, waist circumference.

^aCorrelation coefficients among each age group were compared after Fisher's z-transformation.