Relations of pulse wave velocity to waist circumference independent of hip circumference

Little is known about the effect of waist circumference (WC) on brachial artery pulse wave velocity (baPWV) independent of hip circumference (HC). Therefore, this study aimed to dissociate specific effect of WC on baPWV independent of HC.

Of 1,053 rural residents (2004-2005), 777 subjects with no known history of coronary artery diseases or diabetes mellitus over 40 yr were included. To reduce collinearity, we assessed the independent effect of WC with HC on PWV by residual method (WC [RM]).

In women, most correlation coefficients were significant between measures of abdominal obesity and baPWV, with the highest (0.32) in waist to hip ratio (WHR), whereas no significance was found in men. All mean values of baPWV among the abdominally obese were higher than those of normal group in women, which were in the order of WHR, WC (RM), and WC. Adjusted OR with 95% CI for baPWV was significantly elevated by increase of WC (RM) upto 4.8 (95% CI: 2.1-11.2), and as 4.3 by WHR (95% CI: 1.6-11.4).

Considering the difficulty in biologically interpreting WHR, WC (RM) may be a useful indicator of abdominal obesity among females in that it reflects the risk of pulse wave velocity.