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Association of BMI and Cardiovascular Risk Stratification in the Elderly African‐American Females
Author(s) -
Javed Fahad,
Aziz Emad F.,
Sabharwal Manpreet S.,
Nadkarni Girish N.,
Khan Shahzeb A.,
Cordova Juan P.,
Benjo Alexandre M.,
Gallagher Dympna,
Herzog Eyal,
Messerli Franz H.,
PiSunyer F. Xavier
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2010.307
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , confidence interval , body mass index , logistic regression , demography , sociology
We aimed to estimate the association of BMI and risk of systemic hypertension in African‐American females aged 65 years and older. In this retrospective, cross‐sectional study, medical charts were randomly reviewed after obtaining institutional review board approval and data collection was conducted for height, weight, BMI, age, ethnicity, gender, and hypertension. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed. The mean BMI was significantly higher in hypertensive subjects than normotensives (30.3 vs. 29 kg/m 2 ; P = 0.003). A higher proportion of hypertensive subjects had a BMI >23 kg/m 2 as compared to normotensives (88.9% vs. 83.5%; P = 0.023). When the log odds of having a history of hypertension was plotted against BMI as a continuous variable, we found that the odds showed an increasing trend with increasing BMI and a steep increase after a BMI of 23 kg/m 2 . When BMI was analyzed as a categorical variable, a BMI of 23–30 kg/m 2 was found to have an odds ratio of 1.43 (95% confidence interval 1.01–2.13; P = 0.05) and a BMI of >30 kg/m 2 had an odds ratio of 1.76 (95% confidence interval 1.17–2.65; P = 0.007) when compared to a BMI of <23 kg/m 2 . This association remained significant in both univariate and multivariate analysis. We conclude that BMI is an independent predictor of hypertension in elderly African‐American females. Our results indicate that the risk of hypertension increased significantly at BMI of >23 kg/m 2 in this ethnic group. Weight reduction to a greater extent than previously indicated could play an integral role in prevention and control of high blood pressure in this particular population.