Correlation between overweight and obesity scales and blood pressure values in 418.343 Spanish workers

Abstract

[eng] Objective: One of the objectives of a health system is to be able to identify people with high blood pressure and achieve a good control of them in order to avoid future complications and reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. For this reason, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between blood pressure and different overweight and obesity scales, some of which include the estimation of body fat. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in 421625 Spanish workers. Anthropometric, clinical, and analytical measurements were carried out after standardizing the measurement techniques. Several overweight and obesity scales were analyzed: Visceral adiposity index (VAI), dysfunctional adiposity index, a body shape index (ABSI), normalized weight-adjusted index (NWAI), conicity index, body mass index (BMI), and also other formulas to estimate the percentage of body fat. A descriptive analysis of the categorical variables was performed. Results: The results show higher values in the indicators of overweight and obesity in the group of patients with hypertension compared to the group of non-hypertensive patients for both sexes. Values of the anthropometric measurements and clinical parameters, as well as the different scales of overweight and obesity, had more unfavorable results in the group of men, favoring the appearance of arterial hypertension, while patients with normal weight tended to have better blood pressure levels. It was also seen that the older the age, the greater the risk of presenting altered blood pressure rates in both sexes. Conclusions: The study shows in a statistically significant way that overweight and obese patients have a greater risk of presenting arterial hypertension in both sexes, with an increased risk at an older age, so it is vitally important to influence lifestyle modifications, in order to reduce morbidity and mortality due to different pathologies deriving from overweight, obesity, and hypertension.