Heart Disease Is Associated With Anthropometric Indices and Change in Body Size Perception Over the Life Course: The Golestan Cohort Study

Cut-off values of obesity indices to predict coronary heart disease incidence by time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in 10-year follow-up in study of Yazd Healthy Heart Cohort, Iran

BACKGROUND

The current study aimed to determine the optimal cut-off of obesity indices for detecting coronary heart disease (CHD) in 10-year study of Yazd Healthy Heart Cohort (YHHC) in Iran.

METHODS

A total of 2000 individuals aged 20-74 years were enrolled. All participants without cardiovascular disease (CVD) had a full medical check-up at the start of the study. At the start of the study, a variety of obesity indices were assessed and calculated, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHpR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), A Body Shape Index (ABSI), abdominal volume index (AVI), body adiposity index (BAI), and body roundness index (BRI). Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), myocardial infarction (MI), Rose Angina Questionnaire (RAQ) (chest pain) greater than 3, and electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in favour of the coronary artery disease (CAD) were considered as the CVD risks. A time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve with right-censored data and naive estimator was used to estimate the time-dependent sensitivity and specificity and the best cut-off of the anthropometric indices for CHD risk.

RESULTS

Overall, 1623 participants (818 men and 805 women) with mean and standard deviation (SD) of weight of 71.21 ± 12.94 kg were included. In a 10-year follow-up, 101 [59 (58.42%) men and 42 (41.58%) women] developed CVD event. WHpR demonstrated the largest area under the time-dependent ROC curve (AUC) of 0.65 and 0.63 as well as 95% confidence interval (CI) of 58.64-72.66 and 50.74-75.55 for men and women, respectively, in predicting CVD. Optimal WHpR cut-off was 0.93 and 0.92, respectively, for men and women.

CONCLUSION

WHpR index was superior to other obesity indices in predicting CHD.

Weight change from childhood to adulthood and cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes in adulthood: A systematic review of the literature

The magnitude of the associations between life-course change in weight status and health outcomes in adulthood has been inconsistent. This study aims to examine the associations between weight change from childhood to adulthood and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and outcomes in adulthood. PubMed, Embase and ISI Web of Science between 1 August 1953 and 13 July 2020 were searched, and a total of 52 eligible articles were included. The systematic review supported significant associations between the life-course increase in BMI and high odds of markers in adulthood. In the meta-analyses, normal weight in childhood but excess weight in adulthood or persistent excess weight was associated with increased odds of adult markers. However, those who had excess weight in childhood but were normal weight in adulthood did not have increased odds of nearly all adult markers. This systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that individuals who developed excess weight in adulthood or had excess weight in both periods had higher odds of developing CVD risk factors and outcomes in adulthood. In contrast, the probability of these adult markers could be limited or eliminated for children with excess weight who are able to become adults with normal weight.

Body shape and pants size as surrogate measures of obesity among males in epidemiologic studies

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Alternative anthropometric indicators reflect overall and abdominal obesity in males.

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Abdominal obesity is predicted using age, pants size, Stunkard’s silhouette & weight.

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Stunkard’s silhouette scale reflects well body mass index recently and in the past.

This study aimed at characterizing anthropometric indicators that can be used as alternatives to measurements for assessing overall obesity over adulthood and abdominal obesity among men. We used data from a population-based case-control study of prostate cancer conducted in Montreal, Canada in 2005–2012. It included men aged ≤ 75 years, 1872 of which were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 1918 others randomly selected from the electoral list. In-person interviews elicited reports of height as well as of weight, pants size and Stunkard’s silhouette at 5 time points over adulthood, i.e., for the ages of 20, 40, 50 and 60 years, if applicable, and at the time of interview. Waist and hip circumferences were measured by interviewers following a validated protocol. Analyses were conducted on the overall sample of 3790 subjects, after having confirmed that results did not differ according to disease status. Stunkard’s silhouette scale proved to be an easy-to-administer tool that reflects well reported body mass index, either recently or decades in the past among adult males. It was discriminatory enough to classify individuals according to commonly-used obesity categories. We observed that a model including age, reported pants size, silhouette and weight can reasonably predict current abdominal obesity. In conclusion, alternative anthropometric indicators can serve as valuable means to assess overall and abdominal obesity when measurements cannot be envisaged in the context of epidemiological studies.

Pars cohort study of non-communicable diseases in Iran: protocol and preliminary results

OBJECTIVES

The pars cohort study (PCS) is a 10-year cohort study aiming to investigate the burden and the major risk factors of non-communicable diseases, and to establish a setting to launch interventions for prevention of these diseases and controlling their risk factors.

METHODS

All inhabitants of Valashahr district in South of Iran, aged 40-75 years, were invited to undergo interviews and physical examination, and to provide biological samples. A total of 9264 invitees accepted to participate in the study (95 % participation rate) and were recruited from 2012 to 2014. Active follow-up was also carried out after 12 months.

RESULTS

About 46 % of participants were male and 54 % were female. About 14.0 % of the participants were current smokers and 8.4 % were ever opium users. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 37.3 and 18.2 %, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 26.9 %. A total of 49 participants died during a median follow-up of one year.

CONCLUSIONS

PCS with its large scale and wealth of socio-economic and medical data can be a unique platform for studying the etiology of non-communicable diseases and effective interventions in Iran.

Multimorbidity: Epidemiology and Risk Factors in the Golestan Cohort Study, Iran: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Advances in medicine and health policy have resulted in growing of older population, with a concurrent rise in multimorbidity, particularly in Iran, as a country transitioning to a western lifestyle, and in which the percent of the population over the age of 60 years is increasing. This study aims to assess multimorbidity and the associated risk factors in Iran. We used data from 50,045 participants (age 40-75 y) in the Golestan Cohort Study, including data on demographics, lifestyle habits, socioeconomic status, and anthropometric indices. Multimorbidity was defined as the presence of 2 or more out of 8 self-reported chronic conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, tuberculosis, and cancer. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between multiple different factors and the risk factors. Multimorbidity prevalence was 19.4%, with the most common chronic diseases being gastroesophageal reflux disease (76.7%), cardiovascular diseases (72.7%), diabetes (25.3%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (21.9%). The odds of multimorbidity was 2.56-fold higher at the age of >60 years compared with that at <50 years (P < 0.001), and 2.11-fold higher in women than in men (P < 0.001). Other factors associated with higher risk of multimorbidity included non-Turkmen ethnicity, low education, unemployment, low socioeconomic status, physical inactivity, overweight, obesity, former smoking, opium and alcohol use, and poor oral health. Apart from advanced age and female sex, the most important potentially modifiable lifestyle factors, including excess body weight and opium use, and opium user, are associated with multimorbidity. Policies aiming at controlling multimorbidity will require a multidimensional approach to reduce modifiable risk factors in the younger population in developing countries alongside adopting efficient strategies to improve life quality in the older population.