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Body mass index and survival in people with heart failure

Abstract:

Aims: In people with heart failure (HF), a high body mass index (BMI) has been linked with better outcomes (‘obesity paradox’), but there is limited evidence in community populations across long-term follow-up. We aimed to examine the association between BMI and long-term survival in patients with HF in a large primary care cohort.

Methods: We included patients with incident HF aged ≥45 years from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (2000-2017). We used Kaplan-Meier curves, Cox regression, and penalised splines methods to assess the association of pre-diagnostic BMI, based on WHO classification, with all-cause mortality.

Results: There were 47,531 participants with HF (median age 78.0 years (IQR 70-84), 45.8% female, 79.0% white ethnicity, median BMI 27.1 (IQR 23.9-31.0)) and 25,013 (52.6%) died during follow-up. Compared to healthy weight, people with overweight (HR 0.78, 95%CI 0.75-0.81, risk difference (RD) -4.1%), obesity class I (HR 0.76, 95%CI 0.73-0.80, RD -4.5%) and class II (HR 0.76, 95%CI 0.71-0.81, RD -4.5%) were at decreased risk of death, whereas people with underweight were at increased risk (HR 1.59, 95%CI 1.45-1.75, RD 11.2%). In those underweight, this risk was greater among men than women (p-value for interaction = 0.02). Class III obesity was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality compared to overweight (HR 1.23, 95%CI 1.17-1.29).

Conclusion: The U-shaped relationship between BMI and long-term all-cause mortality suggests a personalised approach to identifying optimal weight may be needed for patients with HF in primary care. Underweight people have the poorest prognosis and should be recognised as high-risk.

Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Files:
Publisher copy:
10.1136/heartjnl-2023-322459

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Primary Care Health Sciences
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-0352-3785
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Primary Care Health Sciences
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-8965-104X
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Primary Care Health Sciences
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Primary Care Health Sciences
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-6589-5456
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Primary Care Health Sciences
Role:
Author


Publisher:
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal:
Heart More from this journal
Volume:
109
Issue:
20
Pages:
1542-1549
Publication date:
2023-06-08
Acceptance date:
2023-05-18
DOI:
EISSN:
1468-201X
ISSN:
1355-6037


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1343540
Local pid:
pubs:1343540
Deposit date:
2023-05-22

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