Aims: To assess the excess risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with different criteria for metabolic health, and the interplay of body size, insulin sensitivity and metabolic health with CVD risk.
Materials and methods: We conducted a prospective study involving 115 638 participants from the China Cardiometabolic Disease and Cancer Cohort (4C) Study. Metabolic health was defined using three different definitions: (1) insulin sensitivity defined by homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index; (2) absence of metabolic syndrome according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria; and (3) simultaneous absence of metabolic abnormalities (diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia). The primary endpoint was a composite of incident CVD events comprising the first occurrence of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, or cardiovascular death.
Results: During a mean 3.61-year follow-up period, obese individuals with insulin sensitivity (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.37-2.08), or without metabolic syndrome (HR 1.46, 95% CI 1.13-1.89) still exhibited increased CVD risks, when compared to their normal-weight counterparts. Otherwise, those with obesity but simultaneous absence of metabolic abnormalities demonstrated similar CVD risk compared to normal-weight individuals (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.53-1.59). CVD risk increased with the number of abnormalities across body mass index categories, regardless of insulin sensitivity.
Conclusions: This study emphasizes the need for refined definitions of metabolic health and advocates for meticulous screening for metabolic abnormalities to reduce cardiovascular risks, even in individuals with normal weight and insulin sensitivity.
Keywords: body size; cardiovascular disease; insulin sensitivity; metabolic status; metabolically healthy obesity; obesity.
© 2024 The Authors. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.