29482851

PMC6053270

We aimed to assess the association between measures of obesity and outcomes in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. We included consecutive patients referred to cardiac rehabilitation for previous CAD events, who were classified using body mass index (BMI) groups and gender-specific tertiles of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Follow-up was ascertained using a population-based, record linkage system. Major cardiovascular event (MACE) was defined as the composite outcome including acute coronary syndromes, coronary revascularization, ventricular arrhythmias, stroke, or death from any cause. We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for potential confounders. The cohort included 1,529 patients (74% men), 63.1 ± 12.5 years (mean age ± SD), of whom 40% were obese by BMI. Eighty-eight percent of men and 57% of women were classified as having central obesity by WHR. Median follow-up was 5.7 years and 415 patients had MACE. After adjustment, a high WHR tertile was a significant predictor for MACE in women (hazard ratio [HR] 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16, 2.94, p = 0.01) but not in men (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.69, 1.22, p = 0.54). This relation in women persisted after further adjustment for BMI (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.07, 2.87, p = 0.03). Obesity by BMI was not associated with MACE in either men (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.76, 1.51, p = 0.69) or women (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.62, 1.56, p = 0.95). In conclusion, WHR is associated with a higher risk of MACE among women with CAD but not in men. There was no obesity paradox when assessing obesity by BMI in patients with CAD when including nonfatal events.

CDC Public Access

R01 HL114024/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States
R01 AG034676/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States
R01 HL065176/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States
UL1 TR001086/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
U48 DP005018/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States
UL1 TR000135/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
U48DP005018/ACL HHS/United States
R25 HL092621/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States
K23 AG051681/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States