The prevalence of obesity and its relationship to cardiometabolic risk factors in the LIPIDOGRAM studies

High body mass index and abdominal obesity are associated with an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases.

We aimed to investigate the prevalence of obesity in 45 591 individuals included in the LIPIDOGRAM cohort studies conducted in 2004, 2006, and 2015, and to examine the relationship between obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.

To analyze the changes in the prevalence of central obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, age standardization was carried out according to the general population for the years 2004, 2006, and 2015.

We observed a significant (P < 0.001 in all groups) increase in the prevalence of abdominal obesity (39% of patients in 2004 to 51% in 2015), age-standardized obesity (26.8% in 2004 to 30.8% in 2015), and central obesity (30.1% in 2004 to 42.2% in 2015). Between 2004 and 2015, there was observed a significant increase in the age-standardized prevalence of diabetes (7.8% in 2004 to 9.8% in 2015) and an increase in the age-standardized prevalence of dyslipidemia (74.4% in 2004 to 76.4% in 2015). For hypertension, a decrease in age-standardized prevalence was observed (38.1% in 2004 to 37.8% in 2015).

An increase in body mass index and visceral obesity was observed among Polish primary health care patients included in the LIPIDOGRAM study from 2004 to 2015. As patients age, the number of cases of diabetes and dyslipidemia increases. These changes cause an increase in cardiometabolic risk.