Utility of a Body Shape Index Parameter in Predicting Cardiovascular Disease Risks

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Anthropometry

Background:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is often assessed using anthropometric indices like body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC).
• These traditional measures have limitations in accounting for variations in body shape and fat distribution.
• A body shape index (ABSI) has been proposed as a novel parameter to better capture body shape differences and predict CVD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of ABSI as a predictor of CVD.
• To compare the predictive power of ABSI against traditional measures like BMI, WC, and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD).
• To determine if ABSI is a more effective modifiable risk factor for CVD.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2014 (n=5,924).
• Collected anthropometric data including height, weight, BMI, WC, and SAD.
• Employed logistic regression to analyze the association between continuous and categorical ABSI, BMI, WC, and SAD with CVD outcomes.

Main Results:

• ABSI showed weak correlation with weight, BMI, WC, and SAD, unlike BMI which had strong correlations.
• In univariable analysis, ABSI demonstrated the most robust associations with overall CVD and its subcategories compared to other indices.
• Categorical analysis revealed that upper ABSI quartiles significantly increased CVD risk (2-fold to 8-fold), outperforming BMI categories.

Conclusions:

• Elevated ABSI, particularly in the upper three quartiles, is a more significant predictor of CVD risk than overweight, obese, or severely obese BMI categories.
• The findings suggest that the increased CVD risk associated with ABSI is more prevalent than previously recognized.
• ABSI warrants closer monitoring and management in preventative healthcare compared to BMI alone.