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Self-reported BMI over time may predict future HF risk
Self-reported weights over time may provide prognostic information about future HF risk, incremental to current BMI, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers sought to determine the association of self-reported weights from early- and mid-adulthood, after accounting for weight at an older age, with incident HF and atherosclerotic CVD risk.
“Prior studies have suggested that weight patterns are often set well before midlife,” Michael Fliotsos, BS, of the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “Weight gain in early or middle adulthood may be riskier than weight gain in later adulthood.”
The study consisted of data from the MESA cohort from 2000 to 2002. Participants (n = 6,347; mean age, 62 years; 53% women) underwent a health assessment using questionnaires, physical examinations and fasting blood draw, with four follow-ups over a 10-year period. Covariates included demographic and lifestyle factors, educational attainment, physical activity, diet and medication use, all obtained through questionnaire.
The primary outcome was incident or probable HF — with hospitalization — which requires confirmation of symptoms such as edema or shortness of breath.
According to the researchers, participants with a BMI at 30 kg/m2 at MESA baseline had higher mean self-reported BMIs at ages 20 and 40 had an increased risk of incident HF compared with those with BMI under 25 kg/m2 at MESA baseline (HR at age 20 = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07-1.5; HR at age 40 = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.18-1.57).
Self-reported BMI at age 20 was the only category significantly associated with incident atherosclerotic CVD after accounting for current BMI (HR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.01-1.26). In follow-up examinations, obesity was also associated with incident HF (HR = 1.72; 95% CI, 1.21-2.45), but not atherosclerotic CVD.
The researchers wrote that control of BMI throughout the lifetime is important for reducing the risk for HF.
“Our study supports the potential for utility for assessing an individual’s weight throughout decades of adulthood to gain a more comprehensive understanding of one’s risk for developing incident HF,” Fliotsos and colleagues wrote. – by Earl Holland Jr.
Disclosure s : The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.