[Association between overweight, obesity and arterial stiffness in community residents]

To evaluate the relationship between overweight, obesity and arterial stiffness in community residents.

A total of 4585 community-dwelling adults in Jiangsu province, China were surveyed with the method of stratified and cluster sampling from 2007 to 2009. Overweight and obesity were defined by body mass index (BMI) and arterial stiffness was assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Statistical analysis of arteriosclerosis included multivariate logistic regression testing among which BMI was viewed as continuous variable (1 kg/m(2) increasing to BMI) and categorical variables (underweight, normal, overweight and obesity) respectively. Odds ratio, population attributable risk percent and the optimal cut-off points for BMI to evaluate arteriosclerosis were analyzed using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve.

(1) After age control, BMI of male or female were positively correlated with baPWV (r = 0.213, P < 0.01; r = 0.186, P < 0.01). baPWV and prevalence of arteriosclerosis were significantly higher in obese residents compared with normal body weight group (all P < 0.01). (2) As a continuous variable, the odds ratio value of BMI on predicting arteriosclerosis was 1.146 (95%CI: 1.117 - 1.175, P < 0.01) after adjusting of age, gender and hypertension. As categorical variables, the odds ratio value of BMI was 0.369 (95%CI: 0.141 - 0.962, P < 0.05) for underweight group, 1.576 (95%CI: 1.333 - 1.863) for overweight group and 2.087 (95%CI: 1.615 - 2.698) for obesity group (all P < 0.01). (3) The population attributable arteriosclerosis risk was 19.1% and 11.6% in overweight and obesity groups, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.661 (95%CI: 0.645 - 0.678, P < 0.01) and the optimal cut-off point for BMI to evaluate arteriosclerosis was 24.25 kg/m(2).

Overweight and obese residents faced higher risk for arteriosclerosis than normal population. Overweight and obesity are independent risk factors for arteriosclerosis after adjusting for age, gender and hypertension.