title: Abdominal obesity vs general obesity for identifying arterial stiffness, subclinical atherosclerosis and wave reflection in healthy, diabetics and hypertensive.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our aim was to analyze the relationship between abdominal obesity and general obesity, with subclinical atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness and wave reflection in healthy, diabetics and hypertensive subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional descriptive study was made of 305 individuals (diabetics 32.8%, hypertensive subjects 37.0% and healthy individuals 30.2%).
  
  
  METHODS
  Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (BFP) and waist/height ratio (WHtR). Arterial stiffness was assessed according to pulse wave velocity (PWV), intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (C-IMT), augmentation index (central and peripheral), ankle-brachial index (ABI), and central and peripheral pulse pressure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  WC and WHtR showed a positive correlation to PWV and C-IMT in the studied groups. After adjusting for age, gender, high sensitivity c-reactive protein, serum glucose and the presence of diabetes, hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia, antidiabetic drugs, lipid-lowering drugs, and atherosclerotic plaques, it was seen that for every 0.1 point increase in WHtR, and for every cm increase in WC, the PWV increased 0.041 and 0.029 m/sec, and C-IMT increased 0.001 mm and 0.001 mm, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The measures of abdominal obesity (WHtR and WC) correlates better than BMI and BFP with arterial stiffness evaluated by PWV, and with subclinical atherosclerosis evaluated by C-IMT, independently of the presence of diabetes or hypertension.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01325064.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Research Unit, La Alamedilla Health Center, SACYL, REDIAPP, Salamanca, Spain. donrecio@gmail.com
authors.forename: Jose I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Recio-Rodriguez
authors.forename: Manuel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gomez-Marcos
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Patino-Alonso
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agudo-Conde
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Sanchez
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garcia-Ortiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000502:physiology*; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein