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Waist circumference as compared with body-mass index in predicting mortality from specific causes
Michael F Leitzmann1, Steven C Moore, Annemarie Koster
1Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America. michael.leitzmann@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
Plos One
|May 5, 2011
Summary
Waist circumference (WC) offers valuable health insights beyond body-mass index (BMI). Increased abdominal fat, indicated by WC, independently predicts higher risks of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Body-mass index (BMI) is a common metric for assessing weight status.
- The clinical significance of waist circumference (WC) in predicting cause-specific mortality, independent of BMI, remains under investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To prospectively evaluate the association between waist circumference (WC) and body-mass index (BMI) with cause-specific mortality in a large cohort of U.S. adults.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study involving 225,712 U.S. women and men.
- Waist circumference (WC) and body-mass index (BMI) were assessed in relation to cause-specific death.
- Cox regression analysis was employed to estimate relative risks and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Main Results:
- Increased WC was consistently associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality and deaths from major causes, including cancer and cardiovascular disease, independent of BMI.
- Comparing the highest to lowest WC categories, a 1.37-fold increased risk of cancer death and a 1.82-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease death were observed after mutual adjustment with BMI.
- WC, but not BMI, demonstrated statistically significant positive associations with deaths from lung cancer (RR 1.77) and chronic respiratory disease (RR 2.77).
Conclusions:
- Increased abdominal adiposity, as measured by WC, is an independent predictor of mortality from major specific causes.
- WC provides clinically meaningful prognostic information beyond BMI, particularly for deaths related to lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease.
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