BACKGROUND: Waist circumference (WC) has been recognized as a simple anthropometric measure of abdominal obesity and associated health risk. We compared WC values at five measurement sites, and examined whether measurement sites influence the relationships between WC and cardiometabolic risk in Korean adults. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, participants included 180 men and 176 women (age: 30-60 years, BMI: 18.5-30.0 kg/m RESULTS: All WC measures at five sites were highly correlated (P <
0.01) with each other in men (r = 0.933-0.995) and women (r = 0.893-0.990). Differences in absolute mean WC values existed in both men and women. The prevalence of abdominal obesity (men: 17.2 %-34.4 %, women: 5.7 %-40.9 %) and metabolic syndrome (men: 30.6 %-38.9 % women: 13.6 %-22.2 %) varied depending on the measurement site. All five WC sites were similarly associated (P <
0.05) with an increased odd ratio for elevated glucose, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and cardiometabolic risk clustering in men, and elevated blood pressure and cardiometabolic risk clustering in women. CONCLUSION: Although the differences in absolute WC values existed, the associations between WC at each site and cardiometabolic risk were similar in Korean adults.