Sex-specific relationship between abdominal obesity and new-onset atrial fibrillation in the general Japanese population

This study aimed to investigate the sex-specific relationship between abdominal obesity and new-onset AF. This retrospective study evaluated the annual health checkup data of 67,379 adults (33,562 males; age, 54  ± 10 years) without baseline AF from April 2008 to March 2016. Participants were grouped according to waist circumference (WC): large-WC group (males, ≥ 85 cm; females, ≥ 90 cm) and normal-WC group. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the strength of the ass ociation between abdominal obesity and new-onset AF, overall and separately for males and females. During a median follow-up of 5 years, 280 (0.4%) new cases of AF were recorded. Univariate analysis revealed a significant increase in new-onset AF in males (odds ratio [OR], 1.97; 95% confidence inte rval [CI], 1.49–2.60;p <  0.001) but not in females (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 0.96–2.97;p = 0.068) in the large-WC group. After adjusting for clinical variables, multivariate analysis revealed that a large WC was significantly associated with new-onset AF in males (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.31–2.36;p <  0.001) but not in females (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.68–2.18;p = 0.514). Abdominal obesity is associated with an increased risk of new-onset AF in men.
Source: Heart and Vessels - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research