[Risk factor distribution according to the obesity degree in patients with coronary artery disease]

World Health Organization and other international guide committees defined different obesity categories according to the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumferences. The purpose of our study was (i) to compare the dispersion of other coronary risk factors in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with different obesity categories that were defined according to the body mass index (BMI) and the waist circumference, (ii) to determine to which extent these cut-off values effect the dispersion of other coronary risk factors.

The study group included 617 consecutive subjects (516 male, mean age - 57.2+/-10.8 years) who underwent their first angiography between January 2000 and May 2000 and in whom significant coronary lesions were detected. The distribution of risk factors such as, age, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, high LDL-C, low HDL-C, total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio, triglycerides, family history of premature CAD was compared between overweight and obese cases defined according to BMI values. The same risk factors were compared among the cases grouped as action level 1 and action level 2 defined by the waist circumference.

In male patients; smoking was found to be higher in overweight individuals than in obese cases (71% vs. 56%) (p<0.05). In female patients; the only difference was the ratio of total-C/HDL-C as being greater in obese group than overweight group (p<0.05). In male and female patients there was no significant difference between obese and overweight cases regarding the number of total risk factors. According to the waist circumference, in male patients, smoking was more prevalent in action level 1 group than in action level 2 group. In female patients risk factors prevalence was similar in both groups.

In patients with CAD, the amount of total risk factors doesn't differ between overweight and obese cases and between patients with action level 1 and action level 2 of the waist circumference. These findings indicate the necessity of using the same secondary prevention approaches in patients with CAD and different levels of obesity.