Obesity in 70-year-old subjects as a risk factor for 15-year coronary heart disease incidence

To investigate the role of obesity in general and waist circumference (WC) and BMI in particular as risk factors for 15-year incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the elderly.

This prospective study was based on 1597 (737 males and 860 females) 70-year-olds free from CHD and participants of three birth cohorts examined in 1971 to 1972 (Cohort I), 1976 to 1977 (Cohort II), and 1981 to 1982 (Cohort III) at Göteborg, Sweden. Fifteen-year incidence of CHD (fatal and nonfatal) was ascertained from follow-up examinations and registers. Relative risk (RR) for first ever CHD in reference to the lowest quartiles of WC and BMI was calculated from Cox regression.

In males, RRs for CHD in the highest WC and BMI quartiles were 1.36 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00 to 1.85] and 1.42 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.92), respectively, after adjustment for cohorts, smoking habits, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol. In men, the risk associated with WC was independent of BMI. Neither WC nor BMI was related to CHD risk in females. After exclusion of first 5-year all-cause deaths, the adjusted RRs in the highest WC and BMI quartiles in males were 1.47 (95% CI 1.06 to 2.04) and 1.42 (1.04 to 1.92), respectively. In females, a significantly higher RR of 1.41 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.94) was observed in the second BMI quartile only after such exclusions.

WC, an indicator of both central and general obesity, appears to be a stronger predictor of CHD than BMI in elderly males, but in females, obesity was not a risk factor for CHD.