University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications
Title
Lean body mass and risk of incident atrial fibrillation in post-menopausal women
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine; UMass Worcester Prevention Research Center
Publication Date
2015-09-14
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Cardiology | Cardiovascular Diseases | Women's Health
Abstract
AIMS: High body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to determine whether lean body mass (LBM) predicts AF.
METHODS AND RESULTS: The Women's Health Initiative is a study of post-menopausal women aged 50-79 enrolled at 40 US centres from 1994 to 1998. A subset of 11 393 participants at three centres underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Baseline demographics and clinical histories were recorded. Incident AF was identified using hospitalization records and diagnostic codes from Medicare claims. A multivariable Cox hazard regression model adjusted for demographic and clinical risk factors was used to evaluate associations between components of body composition and AF risk. After exclusion for prevalent AF or incomplete data, 8832 participants with an average age of 63.3 years remained for analysis. Over the 11.6 years of average follow-up time, 1035 women developed incident AF. After covariate adjustment, all measures of LBM were independently associated with higher rates of AF: total LBM [hazard ratio (HR) 1.24 per 5 kg increase, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.14-1.34], central LBM (HR 1.51 per 5 kg increase, 95% CI 1.31-1.74), and peripheral LBM (HR 1.39 per 5 kg increase, 95% CI 1.19-1.63). The association between total LBM and AF remained significant after adjustment for total fat mass (HR 1.22 per 5 kg increase, 95% CI 1.13-1.31).
CONCLUSION: Greater LBM is a strong independent risk factor for AF. After adjusting for obesity-related risk factors, the risk of AF conferred by higher BMI is primarily driven by the association between LBM and AF.
Keywords
Arrhythmia, Atrial fibrillation, Epidemiology
DOI of Published Version
10.1093/eurheartj/ehv423
Source
Eur Heart J. 2015 Sep 14. pii: ehv423. Link to article on publisher's site
Related Resources
Journal/Book/Conference Title
European heart journal
PubMed ID
26371115
Repository Citation
Azarbal, Farnaz; Stefanick, Marcia L.; Assimes, Themistocles L.; Manson, JoAnn E.; Bea, Jennifer W.; Li, Wenjun; Hlatky, Mark A.; Larson, Joseph C.; LeBlanc, Erin S.; Albert, Christine M.; Nassir, Rami; Martin, Lisa W.; and Perez, Marco V., "Lean body mass and risk of incident atrial fibrillation in post-menopausal women" (2015). University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications. 932.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/932