This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Larger neck circumference may raise HF hospitalization odds in black adults
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A larger neck circumference may be linked to increased risk for HF hospitalization in black adults, according to findings published in the American Heart Journal.
Christopher A. Pumill, MD, and colleagues sought to determine whether there was an association between neck circumference and cardiometabolic risk factors in black adults.
“Emerging data suggest that not only is [neck circumference] correlated with [waist circumference], but [neck circumference] may support CV disease risk prediction, given associations with other prognostic variables,” Pumill, an internal medical resident in the department of medicine and Duke Clinical Research Institute at the Duke University School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “However, limited data exist regarding the association of [neck circumference] and CV outcomes, and previous studies have not evaluated the associations in African-Americans, who are disproportionately affected by CV disease.”
The researchers analyzed data from the Jackson Heart Study and included 5,290 participants with recorded neck circumference measurements at baseline. Participants were stratified into tertiles by neck circumference: 37 cm or less, 38 cm to 40 cm, and more than 40 cm. The researchers also calculated age- and sex-adjusted cumulative incidence of clinical CV outcomes.
Once adjusted for age and sex, increased neck circumference was associated with HF hospitalization in the 40 cm or more tertile (cumulative incidence = 13.4%; 99% CI, 10.7-16.7) compared with the 37 cm or less tertile (6.5%; 99% CI, 4.7-8.8), the researchers wrote. After full adjustment for clinical variables, the difference was not statistically significant (HR per 1-cm increase = 1.04; 99% CI, 0.99-1.1).
Although neck circumference is not independently associated with increased risk for CV events, it may offer prognostic information particularly related to HF hospitalization, Pumill and colleagues wrote.
“More research is needed to further delineate the clinical utility of [neck circumference] as a risk marker for HF hospitalization risk and its predictive power of common clinical measures,” the researchers wrote. – by Earl Holland Jr.
Disclosures: Pumill reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts