title: Association of BMI and cardiovascular risk stratification in the elderly African-American females.
abstract: 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/m2; P = 0.003). A higher proportion of hypertensive subjects had a BMI >23 kg/m2 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/m2. When BMI was analyzed as a categorical variable, a BMI of 23-30 kg/m2 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/m2 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/m2. 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/m2 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.
authors.affiliation: New York Obesity Research Center, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, USA. Fj2159@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Fahad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Javed
authors.forename: Emad F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: Manpreet S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sabharwal
authors.forename: Girish N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Nadkarni
authors.forename: Shahzeb A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cordova
authors.forename: Alexandre M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Benjo
authors.forename: Dympna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: Franz H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Messerli
authors.forename: F Xavier
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Pi-Sunyer
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008499:Medical Records; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014504:Urban Health