Correlations between body mass index and electrocardiographic parameters in young adult women: Across-sectional study...

Obesity and overweight, as public health concerns, are escalating globally, especially in young women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Obesity is associated with both structural and functional cardiac changes and is a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The associations between obesity and electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters are poorly defined in young African women. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and electrocardiographic parameters among Sudanese young female university students.

This observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, facility-based study included 172 female university students residing in Hassan Ibrahim Malik Dormitories, Khartoum State, Sudan. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, and waist circumference) and standard resting 12-lead ECG recordings were obtained. Participants were categorized according to World Health Organization (WHO) body mass index (BMI) criteria. ECG parameters assessed included heart rate, rhythm, corrected QT interval (QTc), QRS voltage, T-wave morphology, left axis deviation (LAD), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Associations between BMI categories and ECG variables were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests and chi-square tests, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

Mean age was 21.46 ± 2.50 years. The mean BMI was 23.44 ± 5.20 kg/m². The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 23.8% and 9.3%, respectively. There were significant associations between BMI categories and prolonged QTc interval (40.4% vs 3.5%; p = 0.001), low QRS voltage (22.8% vs 1.7%; p = 0.001), left ventricular hypertrophy (14.0% vs 0.0%; p = 0.001), left axis deviation (p = 0.04), and T-wave flattening (p = 0.04). There were no significant associations between BMI groups and heart rate or heart rhythm. These findings were obtained without adjustments for confounding factors.

We conclude that overweight and obesity had significant associations with several ECG abnormalities in young Sudanese women. These conclusions may encourage further longitudinal studies to investigate the causal relationship between obesity and ECG parameters.