Association between Neck Circumference and the Occurrence of Cardiovascular Events in Type 2 Diabetes: Beijing Community Diabetes Study 20 (BCDS-20)

Abstract

Background Neck circumference (NC) was found to be related to the risk factors of cardiovascular disease. However, the effects of NC on cardiovascular disease are still controversial. A prospective study of Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes was performed to evaluate the relationship between NC and cardiovascular disease. Methods A multicenter prospective study with eight-year follow-up was conducted in Beijing communities. Cardiovascular events were defined as myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris, hospitalization for heart failure, coronary revascularization, cardiac death, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and cerebral hemorrhage. Results A total of 3,009 diabetic patients were recruited. Following an eight-year follow-up, 211 patients with cardiovascular events (105 in men and 106 in women) were identified. All patients were categorized into two groups according to the upper quartile of NC (43 cm in men and 39 cm in women). The prevalence of cardiovascular events in men with an NC >43 cm (16.48%) was higher than that in the group with an NC <43 cm (8.16%, p=0.007). The prevalence of cardiovascular events in women with the NC >39 cm (10.67%) was higher compared to the group with NC <39 cm (5.31%, p=0.004). The longitudinal prevalence of cardiovascular events in groups with different NC increased with the increasing duration of follow-up (p < 0.001). Cox regression analysis showed that higher NC was associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events after adjusting for confounding variables (adjusted HR = 2.305 (1.535–3.460)). Conclusions NC was associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes in Chinese communities, and greater NC may increase the risk of cardiovascular events by about 2.3-fold.

Neck Circumference is an Effective Supplement for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Screening in a Community-Based Population

“…NC reflects ectopic fat deposition in the neck and is an important anthropological index for determining the degree of obesity, especially upper body obesity. Increasing evidence has shown that NC is associated with obesity-related metabolic abnormalities, such as metabolic syndrome, IR, and cardiovascular atherosclerosis [5][6][7][8]. Given that NAFLD is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and its complications, several studies assessed the association between NC and NAFLD and proposed that NC was a simple predictor of NAFLD [9][10][11].…”

The effects of acarbose therapy on reductions of myocardial infarction and all-cause death in T2DM during 10-year multifactorial interventions (The Beijing Community Diabetes Study 24)

“…Overweight/obesity is recognized as one of the most common risk factors for CVD. Neck circumference was shown in many studies to be an indicator for evaluating overweight/obesity 25 , and was associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes in Chinese communities, and may increase the risk of cardiovascular events by about 2.3-fold 26 . In the present study, the neck circumference was significant higher in patients with acarbose therapy free than that of acarbose therapy, while after 10 year-follow-up, there were no significant difference between the two groups.…”

Neck and Wrist Circumferences as Indicators of Metabolic Alterations in the Pediatric Population: A Scoping Review

“…During the last decade, neck circumference (NC) and wrist circumference (WrC) have been recently proposed as practical and inexpensive tools with the capacity to indicate elevated central adiposity and insulin resistance in children and adolescents [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Furthermore, there exists evidence of anatomical and physiological explanations why these measurements might be strongly associated with metabolic alterations.…”