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Association of waist-to-height ratio with hypertension and its subtypes in southern China

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 36, pages 775–780 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Data regarding the association of the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) with hypertension (HTN) are conflicting. Moreover, little information is available on the association between WHtR and HTN subtypes. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the associations between WHtR and the prevalence of HTN and its subtypes in a Chinese population. In the cross-sectional analysis, 13,947 adults from the China Hypertension Survey study were analysed. We examined the relationship between WHtR and the prevalence of HTN and its subtypes (isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH) and systodiastolic hypertension (SDH)) using multivariate logistic regression analysis. A generalized additive model (GAM) and smooth curve fitting (penalized spline method) were also used. Overall, the mean WHtR was 0.50. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for HTN, ISH, IDH and SDH for each standard deviation (SD) increase in WHtR were 1.53 (1.45−1.61), 1.36 (1.28−1.44), 1.41 (1.20−1.65) and 1.47 (1.36−1.59), respectively. The fully adjusted smooth curve fitting revealed a linear association between WHtR and HTN, ISH, IDH, and SDH. Moreover, the positive associations between WHtR and HTN and its subtypes were more strong among younger adults (<60 compared with ≥60 years, P values for interaction <0.001). These findings suggested that WHtR was positively associated with HTN and its subtypes, especially among younger adults (<60 years) in southern China.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart of study participants.
Fig. 2: Association between WHtR and HTN, ISH, IDH, and SDH.

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Acknowledgements

All authors acknowledge the study participants and the study staff members who contributed in this study.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program in the Twelfth Five‐Year Plan (No. 2011BAI11B01 and 2014ZX09303305) from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81560051).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang of Jiangxi, China

    Peng Lu, Lingjuan Zhu, Huihui Bao, Xiao Huang, Wei Zhou, Tao Wang, Juxiang Li, Ping Li, Yanqing Wu, Qinghua Wu, Minghui Li & Xiaoshu Cheng

  2. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China

    Lihua Hu

  3. Center of Cardiovascular, Inner Mongolia People’s Hospital, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China

    Xi Liu

  4. Division of Prevention and Community Health, National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zengwu Wang

  5. Fuwai Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Runlin Gao

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  1. Peng Lu
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Correspondence to Minghui Li or Xiaoshu Cheng.

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Lu, P., Zhu, L., Hu, L. et al. Association of waist-to-height ratio with hypertension and its subtypes in southern China. J Hum Hypertens 36, 775–780 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-021-00566-9

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