Association of Longitudinal Trajectory of Body Roundness Index With CVD Risk: Evidence From a Multicohort Study

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Obesity Research
• Biostatistics

Background:

• The body roundness index (BRI) is an emerging anthropometric indicator.
• Understanding the longitudinal changes in BRI and their association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is crucial for public health.
• Previous studies have not fully elucidated the dynamic relationship between BRI trajectories and CVD events.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the longitudinal trajectories of BRI in a multinational cohort.
• To investigate the association between identified BRI trajectories and the risk of incident CVD events.
• To explore the dose-response relationship between BRI metrics and CVD risk.

Main Methods:

• Pooled individual-level data from three prospective cohort studies (US, UK, China, 2004-2019).
• Latent class growth mixed models used to determine BRI trajectories.
• Cox proportional hazards models employed to assess the relationship between BRI trajectories and CVD risk.

Main Results:

• Three distinct BRI trajectories identified: inverse-U (7.2%), low-increasing (44.4%), and middle-increasing (48.4%).
• The middle-increasing and inverse-U BRI groups exhibited significantly higher CVD risk (1.25x and 1.86x, respectively) compared to the low-increasing group.
• Nonlinear, dose-response relationships observed between historical maximum BRI, area under the curve, time-weighted BRI, and CVD risk (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Longitudinal BRI trajectories are significant, independent predictors of CVD risk.
• These findings highlight the persistent impact of visceral fat accumulation on cardiovascular health.
• BRI trajectories offer a valuable tool for personalized CVD risk assessment and early intervention strategies.