Comparison of Obesity-Related Parameters as Predictors of High Pulse Wave Velocity in Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Community-Based Study

Abstract

Background: The association between fat-related parameters and occurrence of high pulse wave velocity (PWV) in Chinese middle-aged and elderly people is unknown, especially when booy composition indicators are compared.Methods: A total of 3219 middle-aged and elderly subjects who were recruited from 6 community health service centers located in Hefei, Bengbu, and Chuzhou met the inclusion criteria and had valid data. E-health promotion system was used to collect health basic data, and brachial-ankle pulse wave (baPWV) and body composition of each subject were measured. Partial correlation and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify associations between fat-related parameters and high PWV, and receiver operating characteristic curves were analyzed for optimal cutoff values and predictive capacity for high PWV.Results: The highest partial correlation coefficients (adjusted for age) for waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were in middle-aged women and elderly men (range, 0.1-0.31); and that for waist circumference (WC) were in elderly women and middle-aged men (range, 0.12-0.29). WHtR explained the largest proportion of variation for dependent variables, with an R2 value ranging from 0.088 to 0.216 in Model 1; the beta of WC was slightly higher than that of WHtR in elderly women in Models 2 and 3. The predictive capacities of these parameters were lower in men. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was higher for WHtR (0.573–0.693) than for the other parameters in both men and women, with optimal cutoff values of 0.51-0.54.Conclusions: WHtR and WC may be useful for community-based screening of women ≥40 years as a secondary preventative measure for high PWV. These 2 parameters can be used in conjunction with others (eg., body composition index) to predict the risk of high PWV based on region, age, and sex.