Body mass index and waist circumference as predictors of 10-year nonfatal and fatal cardiovascular disease risk
Document Actions
This large cohort study compared absolute risk, hazard ratio (HR), and population-attributable risk of nonfatal and fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in a general population sample of over 20,000 Dutch men and women. All risks were adjusted for age and sex. Mean duration of follow-up was 10 years. Data analysis revealed that absolute risk of nonfatal CVD was on average ten-times higher than that of fatal CVD. Relative risk of fatal CVD was four-fold higher and risk of nonfatal CVD was two-times higher in obese subjects (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) compared to normal-weight participants, with similar associations made for waist circumference. In overweight or obese subjects, half of all fatal CVD and a quarter of nonfatal CVD cases were attributable to overweight. On the population level, one-third of all fatal CVD cases and about one in seven nonfatal CVD cases could be ascribed to overweight. Thus, the associations of BMI and WC with CVD risk were equally strong, and overweight and obesity had a stronger impact on fatal CVD than on nonfatal CVD.
Abstract
