Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33750311›Full record

ArticleBMC medical research methodology2021

Waist circumference prediction for epidemiological research using gradient boosted trees.

Weihong Zhou, Spencer Eckler, Andrew Barszczyk, Alex Waese-Perlman, Yingjie Wang, Xiaoping Gu, Zhong-Ping Feng, Yuzhu Peng, Kang Lee

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Weihong Zhou *Department of Health Management Centre, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, No. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210008, China.
Spencer Eckler *Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, 45 Walmer Rd, Toronto, ON, M5R 2X2, Canada.
Andrew Barszczyk *Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Rm. 3306. 1 King's College, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.
Alex Waese-PerlmanDr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, 45 Walmer Rd, Toronto, ON, M5R 2X2, Canada.
Yingjie WangDepartment of Health Management Centre, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, No. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210008, China.
Xiaoping GuDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, No. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210008, China.
Zhong-Ping FengDepartment of Physiology, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Rm. 3306. 1 King's College, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.
Yuzhu PengDepartment of Health Management Centre, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, No. 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210008, China. yuzhupeng4@gmail.com.
Kang LeeDr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, 45 Walmer Rd, Toronto, ON, M5R 2X2, Canada. kang.lee@utoronto.ca.

Funding

UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CLINICAL NUTRITION RESEARCH UNITP30DK056350 · NIDDK · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Ian Michael Carroll · 1999 to 2026
$31.6M
MONITORING SOCIAL CHANGE: HEALTH, REPRODUCTION, AGINGR01HD030880 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI ADAIR, LINDA S, POPKIN, BARRY M · 1994 to 2024
$27.0M
CHILD HEALTH EFFECTS OF RAPID SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGER01HD038700 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI POPKIN, BARRY M · 2000 to 2004
$1.5M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD030880NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD038700NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK056350
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWaist circumference is becoming recognized as a useful predictor of health risks in clinical research. However, clinical datasets tend to lack this measurement and self-reported values tend to be inaccurate. Predicting waist circumference from standard physical features could be a viable method for generating this information when it is missing or mitigating the impact of inaccurate self-reports. This study determined the degree to which the XGBoost advanced machine learning algorithm could build models that predict waist circumference from height, weight, calculated Body Mass Index, age, race/ethnicity and sex, whether they perform better than current models based on linear regression, and the relative importance of each feature in this prediction.

methodsWe trained tree-based models (via XGBoost gradient boosting) and linear models (via regression) to predict waist circumference from height, weight, Body Mass Index, age, race/ethnicity and sex (n = 60,740 participants). We created 10 iterations of each model, each using 90% of the dataset for training and the remaining 10% for testing performance (this group was different for each iteration). We calculated model performance and feature importance as an average across 10 iterations. We then externally validated the ensembled version of the top model.

resultsThe XGBoost model predicted waist circumference with a mean bias ± standard deviation of 0.0 ± 0.04 cm and a root mean squared error of 4.7 ± 0.05 cm, with performance varying slightly by sex and race/ethnicity. The XGBoost model showed varying degrees of improvement over linear regression models. The top 3 predictors were Body Mass Index, weight and race (Asian). External validation found that on average this model overestimated waist circumference by 4.65 cm in the United Kingdom population (mainly due to overprediction in females) and underestimated waist circumference by 1.7 cm in the Chinese population. The respective root mean squared errors were 7.7 cm and 7.1 cm.

conclusionsXGBoost-based models accurately predict waist circumference from standard physical features. Waist circumference prediction using this approach would be valuable for epidemiological research and beyond.

Indexed as

Waist CircumferenceBiasBody Mass IndexFemaleHumansSelf ReportUnited KingdomGradient boosted treesMachine learningMultilayer perceptronWaist circumference

Identifiers

PMID33750311
PMCPMC7944598

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.