Body mass index and blood pressure in adult type 2 diabetic patients in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
The correlation between body mass index (BMI)/obesity and blood pressure/hypertension has not been confirmed in diabetic patients. This study analyzed the association in Taiwanese adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).


RESULTS
The National Health Insurance data of 89,857 adult patients (41,398 men and 48,459 women; aged >or=18 years with mean +/- SD of 62.2+/-11.3 years) interviewed by questionnaire were analyzed, taking into account the potential confounding of age, sex, diabetic duration, smoking and parental hypertension. Prevalence of obesity (BMI >or=25 kg/m2) was 39.3% and 41.7% in the diabetic men and women, respectively; and hypertension was 54.5% in both sexes. Hypertension increased significantly with increasing age and BMI. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for hypertension for every 1 kg/m(2) increment of BMI was 1.16 (1.15-1.17) and 1.13 (1.12-1.14) for men and women, respectively. The correlation between BMI and hypertension/blood pressure extended throughout BMI levels to the nonobese range. For men, adjusted OR for BMI <18.5, 18.5-22.9, 23.0-24.9, 25.0-29.9 and >or=30.0 kg/m2 were 1.00, 1.23 (1.07-1.41), 1.78 (1.55-2.05), 3.06 (2.66-3.53) and 6.59 (5.56-7.82), respectively; and were 1.00, 1.09 (0.97-1.22), 1.49 (1.32-1.68), 2.32 (2.06-2.60), 4.40 (3.84-5.05), respectively, for women. For every 1 unit BMI increase in patients without a hypertension history, the systolic and diastolic blood pressures significantly increased by 0.618 and 0.447 mmHg for men; and by 0.637 and 0.462 mmHg, respectively, for women.


CONCLUSIONS
BMI/obesity is significantly linked to blood pressure/hypertension throughout the range of BMI in diabetic patients in either sex regardless of a previous hypertension history.
Tseng
Chin-Hsiao
CH
National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. ccktsh@ms6.hinet.net
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013624:Taiwan