Table 3 Bivariate analysis showing factors associated with central obesity
Variables | CO (WC) | Not CO | p value | CO (WHR) | Not CO | p value | CO (WHTR) | Not CO | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sex | |||||||||
 Male | 114 (35.5) | 207 (64.5) | < 0.001 | 166 (51.7) | 155 (48.3) | 0.005 | 172 (53.6) | 149 (46.4) | < 0.001 |
 Female | 549 (81.3) | 126 (18.7) |  | 409 (60.7) | 265 (38.3) |  | 539 (79.9) | 136 (20.1) |  |
Educational level | |||||||||
 No formal schooling | 79 (54.1) | 67 (45.9) | 0.007 | 87 (59.6) | 59 (40.4) | 0.251 | 93 (63.7) | 53 (36.3) | 0.144 |
 Grades 1 to 7 | 104 (67.1) | 51 (32.9) |  | 100 (64.5) | 55 (35.5) |  | 115 (74.2) | 40 (25.8) |  |
 Grades 8 to 12 | 399 (68.8) | 181 (31.2) |  | 323 (55.8) | 256 (44.2) |  | 422 (72.8) | 158 (27.2) |  |
 Tertiary | 81 (70.4) | 34 (29.6) |  | 65 (56.5) | 50 (43.5) |  | 81 (70.4) | 34 (29.6) |  |
Smoking | |||||||||
 Yes | 51 (34.0) | 99 (66.0) | < 0.001 | 71 (47.3) | 79 (52.7) | 0.003 | 66 (56.0) | 84 (56.0) | < 0.001 |
 No | 612 (72.3) | 234 (27.7) |  | 504 (59.6) | 341 (40.4) |  | 645 (76.2) | 201 (23.8) |  |
Alcohol use | |||||||||
 Yes | 171 (53.8) | 147 (46.2) | < 0.001 | 159 (50.0) | 159 (50.0) | < 0.001 | 195 (61.3) | 123 (38.7) | < 0.001 |
 No | 486 (72.8) | 182 (27.2) |  | 411 (61.6) | 256 (38.4) |  | 509 (76.2) | 159 (23.8) |  |
Hypertension | |||||||||
 Yes | 363 (74.1) | 127 (25.9) | < 0.001 | 332 (67.9) | 157 (32.1) | < 0.001 | 396 (80.8) | 94 (19.2) | < 0.001 |
 No | 300 (59.3) | 206 (40.7) |  | 243 (48.0) | 263 (52.0) |  | 315 (62.3) | 191 (37.7) |  |
Diabetes | |||||||||
 Yes | 193 (79.4) | 50 (20.6) | < 0.001 | 179 (74.0) | 63 (26.0) | < 0.001 | 209 (86.0) | 34 (14.0) | < 0.001 |
 No | 470 (62.4) | 283 (37.6) |  | 396 (52.6) | 357 (47.4) |  | 502 (66.7) | 251 (33.3) |  |
Physical activity | |||||||||
 Yes | 305 (68.2) | 142 (31.8) | 0.174 | 184 (41.3) | 236 (43.0) | 0.314 | 318 (71.1) | 129 (28.9) | 0.466 |
 No | 358 (65.2) | 191 (34.8) |  | 262 (58.7) | 313 (57.0) |  | 393 (71.6) | 156 (28.4) |  |
Marital status | |||||||||
 Never married | 386 (60.8) | 249 (39.2) | < 0.001 | 312 (49.2) | 322 (50.8) | < 0.001 | 411 (64.7) | 224 (35.3) | < 0.001 |
 Ever married | 250 (76.2) | 78 (23.8) |  | 239 (72.9) | 89 (27.1) |  | 271 (82.6) | 57 (17.4) |  |
Income categories | |||||||||
 ≤ R2000 | 94 (61.8) | 58 (38.2) | 0.011 | 90 (59.2) | 62 (40.8) | 0.200 | 106 (69.7) | 46 (30.3) | 0.060 |
 2001–4999 | 268 (75.1) | 89 (24.9) |  | 233 (65.3) | 124 (34.7) |  | 282 (79.0) | 75 (21.0) |  |
 5000 and above | 53 (70.7) | 22 (29.3) |  | 42 (56.0) | 33 (44.0) |  | 60 (80.0) | 15 (20.0) |  |
Age | |||||||||
 < 35 years | 222 (57.7) | 164(42.3) | < 0.00 | 159 (41.4) | 225 (58.6) | < 0.001 | 233 (69.5) | 152 (39.5) | < 0.001 |
 35 and above | 441 (72.2) | 170(27.8) |  | 416 (68.1) | 195 (31.9) |  | 478 (78.2) | 133 (21.8) |  |
Employment status | |||||||||
 Government employee | 46 (73.0) | 17 (27.0) | < 0.001 | 35 (55.6) | 28 (44.4) | < 0.001 | 52 (82.5) | 11 (17.5) | < 0.001 |
 Non-government employee | 142 (61.5) | 89 (38.5) |  | 136 (58.9) | 95 (41.1) |  | 158 (68.4) | 73 (31.6) |  |
 Self-employed | 37 (59.7) | 25 (40.3) |  | 35 (56.5) | 27 (43.5) |  | 39 (61.9) | 23 (37.1) |  |
 Student | 48 (48.5) | 51 (51.5) |  | 27 (27.3) | 72 (72.7) |  | 48 (48.5) | 51 (51.5) |  |
 Unemployed | 340 (71.7) | 134 (28.3) |  | 294 (62.2) | 179 (37.8) |  | 360 (75.9) | 114 (24.1) |  |
Retired | 49 (74.2) | 17 (25.8) | Â | 47 (71.2) | 19 (28.8) | Â | 53 (80.3) | 13 (19.7) | Â |
Comorbidity (hypertension, diabetes) | |||||||||
 Yes | 217 (99.5) | 1 (0.5) | < 0.001 | 178 (82.0) | 39 (18.0) | < 0.001 | 216 (99.1) | 2 (0.9) | < 0.001 |
 No | 332 (42.7) | 446 (57.3) |  | 397 (51.0_ | 381 (49.0) |  | 495 (63.6) | 283 (36.4) |  |