Correlation among Waist Circumference and Central Measures of Blood Pressure

Arterial stiffness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Body fat measures such as waist circumference (WC) have been associated with CVD in adulthood.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of arterial stiffness, measured by applanation tonometry-Sphygmocor, with WC.

Observational study with 240 participants who make routine consultations at the outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Participants were interviewed and had central blood pressure measurements (CBPM), anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat and visceral fat measured. Paired and unpaired t and chi-square tests were used. A significance level of 5% was adopted.

Of the 240 participants, 51.82% were male with a mean age of 59.71(±14.81) years and a mean WC of 99.87 (11.54) cm. Mean CBPM values were: Central arterial pressure (CAP) = 130.23 (91-223) mmHg, pulse wave velocity (PWV) = 9.8 (5.28-19.6)m/s and Augmentation Index [Amplification Index (AI)] = 29.45 (-14-60). PWV and CAP were highly correlated with WC with p<0.001 and p=0.02, respectively; however, the same positive correlation was not found between WC and AI (p=0.06).

The present study showed a positive association between WC and arterial stiffness, through the femoral carotid pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and AI, being stronger with cf-PWV, suggesting the evaluation of the effect of WC in vascular health as a method of aid in the early treatment of CVD and in the prevention of clinical outcomes.