Girth sizes of the body in Ukrainian men and women with various forms of urticaria
Authors: Aladwan A. M. A. , Dmytrenko S. V. , Kyrychenko V. I. , Glushak A. A. , Prokopenko O. S. , Ocheretna О. L. , Gunas I. V. 
Published: September 2024

The relevance of studying body girth in patients with different forms of urticaria is due to the importance of anthropometric indicators in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. Urticaria, as one of the most common dermatological conditions, can present in various clinical forms, each of which may differently impact the body, particularly by altering body circumferences. Examining these indicators in Ukrainian men and women allows for the identification of gender-specific and individual characteristics, which could be crucial for improving treatment and prevention methods for urticaria. The purpose of the work is to establish the peculiarities and sex differences in body girth measurements in young Ukrainian men and women with acute and chronic mild and severe urticaria. Body girth measurements were determined in 40 Ukrainian men and 40 young women (25-44 years according to the age periodization of WHO, 2015) patients with acute (AU) and chronic (CU) urticaria of a mild (MU) and severe (SU) course. Urticaria was diagnosed according to the EAACI/GA²LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI international guidelines. Anthropometric measurements were performed on the right side of the body. The girth sizes of the upper and lower limbs, neck and trunk were determined with a centimeter tape. As a control group, the girth measurements of the body of practically healthy Ukrainian men (n=82) and women (n=101) of young age were used, which were taken from the data bank of the research center of the National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya. Statistical analysis of girth body dimensions was carried out in the license package "Statistica 6.0" using non-parametric estimation methods. When comparing the body girths of men or women with urticaria with practically healthy men or women, significantly larger values or a tendency towards larger values were established: in sick men, most of the girths of the upper limb (mainly in patients with AU/SU), hips, waist, chest during inhalation and at rest (in patients with AU/MU, AU/SU, CU/MU and CU/SU), neck (in patients with AU/MU, AU/SU and CU/MU); in sick women – shoulder girths in stressed and relaxed states, hips, thighs, neck, waist, chest during inhalation, exhalation and in a calm state (in patients with AU/MU, AU/SU, CU/MU and CU/SU ), forearm in the lower part (in patients with AU/MU and CU/MU), crus in the upper and lower part (in patients with AU/MU and CU/MU). When comparing the girths of the body between men and women with urticaria, only a few significant differences or trends were established: between the men, only larger values of the girths of the neck (in patients with AU/MU compared to AU/SU) and feet (in patients with AU/SU vs. CU/SU); between sick women – greater values of shoulder girths in tense and relaxed states, forearm in the lower part, hand, crus in the upper part, foot, thorax on exhalation and in a calm state (in patients with AU/MU compared to AU/SU), crus (in patients with CU/MU compared to CU/SU). Pronounced manifestations of sexual dimorphism of body girths between Ukrainian men and women with urticaria were also established: in sick men, larger values of hand and neck girths were found (in patients with AU/MU, AU/SU, CU/MU and CU/SU), shoulder girths in tense and relaxed states, forearms in the upper and lower part, feet, waist, chest during inhalation, exhalation and in a calm state (in patients with AU/SU), shoulder in a tense state (in patients with CU/SU), forearm in the upper part (in patients with AU/MU), forearm in the lower part (in patients with CU/MU); in female patients – larger values of hip girth (in patients with AU/MU) and hips (in patients with CU/MU).