Is relative fat mass a better indicator of high blood pressure levels when compared to other anthropometric indexes?

Background: relative fat mass (RFM) has been proposed recently, and the effectiveness in relation to other anthropometric indexes already consolidated regarding the predictive capacity of high blood pressure levels (HBPL) has not been investigated yet. Objectives: the objective was to analyze the predictive capacity of RFM for HBPL, and to compare it with others indexes. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted with 896 individuals. Weight, height, hip, waist circunference (WC), and neck circunference measurements were evaluated, and RFM, body mass index (BMI), body adiposity index, waist/hip ratio, and waist/height ratio were calculated. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures were measured on one occasion. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, a logistic regression model, and the analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used. Results: HBPL proportion was higher in men (34.68 %, p < 0.01). There was a positive correlation (p < 0.01) between all anthropometric measurements and SBP and DBP. WC in males (OR, 3.66; p < 0.01) and BMI in females (OR, 5.06; p < 0.01) showed the greatest associations with HBPL. There was no statistical difference (p > 0.05) in the area under the curve. Conclusions: the findings of our study suggest that RFM is not the best index for predicting HBPL, although it has shown positive associations.