title: Relationship between measures of central and general adiposity with aortic stiffness in the general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Increased aortic stiffness may be one of the mechanisms by which obesity increases cardiovascular risk independently of traditional risk factors. While body mass index (BMI) is generally used to define excess adiposity, several studies have suggested that measures of central obesity may be better predictors of cardiovascular risk. However, data comparing the association between several measures of central and general obesity with aortic stiffness in the general population are inconclusive.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 1031 individuals (age 53 ± 13 years, 45% men) without manifest cardiovascular disease randomly selected from population, we tested the association between parameters of central obesity (waist circumference - WC, waist-to-hip-ratio - WHR, waist-to-height ratio - WHtR) and general obesity (BMI) with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In univariate analysis, WC and WHtR were more strongly associated with cfPWV than BMI in both genders, while WHR showed a stronger association with cfPWV only in women. WHtR was more closely associated with cfPVW than WHR. This difference between obesity measures remained after multivariate adjustment. When the fully adjusted hierarchical regression was used, among central obesity measures, WHtR had the largest additive value on top of BMI, while there was no additive value of BMI on top of WHtR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Central obesity parameters are more closely associated with aortic stiffness than BMI. Of central adiposity measures, WHtR has the strongest association with aortic stiffness beyond body mass index and cardiovascular risk factors. Our results suggest that WHtR may be the best anthropometric measure of excess adiposity in the general population.
authors: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Center for Cardiovascular Prevention of the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Thomayer Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Preventive Cardiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Wohlfahrt
authors: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors: Virend K
authors: VK
authors: Somers
authors: International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Center for Cardiovascular Prevention of the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Thomayer Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors: Renata
authors: R
authors: Cifkova
authors: 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Charles University, Center for Hypertension, Pilsen, Czech Republic.
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Filipovsky
authors: 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Charles University, Center for Hypertension, Pilsen, Czech Republic.
authors: Jitka
authors: J
authors: Seidlerova
authors: Center for Cardiovascular Prevention of the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Thomayer Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors: Alena
authors: A
authors: Krajcoviechova
authors: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors: Ondrej
authors: O
authors: Sochor
authors: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors: Iftikhar J
authors: IJ
authors: Kullo
authors: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Electronic address: lopez@mayo.edu.
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Lopez-Jimenez
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
keywords: Aortic stiffness; Body mass index; Obesity; Pulse wave velocity; Waist circumference; Waist-to-height ratio; Waist-to-hip ratio