Impact of body mass index on changes in common carotid artery wall thickness.
OBJECTIVE
To examine associations between changes in body mass index (BMI) and changes in carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in a community-based sample.


METHODS
Carotid artery IMT and BMI were assessed at baseline (between 1987 and 1990) and in three subsequent examinations at 3-year intervals in participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort. The 9,316 African-American and white men and women in the analysis were 45 to 64 years of age at baseline. Cross-sectional associations between BMI and IMT were assessed using general linear models. Longitudinal associations were examined using mixed models analysis.


RESULTS
Cross-sectional associations between BMI and IMT were confirmed. At baseline, a 1-kg/m(2) increase in BMI was associated with an increase in IMT that ranged from 2.5 to 7.5 micro m among the ethnic-gender groups examined. Changes in BMI were not associated with changes in IMT in models that adjusted for aging and other covariates. Results were similar across ethnic-gender groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Among free-living, 45- to 64-year-old adults, changes in common carotid artery IMT associated with changes in BMI are either very small or absent.
Stevens
June
J
Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514, USA. June_Stevens@unc.edu
Juhaeri
Cai
Jianwen
J
Evans
Gregory W
GW
D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008922:Mississippi / Q000208:ethnology; D009657:North Carolina / Q000208:ethnology; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American