Joint effects of serum ferritin and body mass index on the risk of coronary artery disease: a case–control study

OBJECTIVES: Serum ferritin and body mass index (BMI) have been reportedly associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. The aim of the present study was to explore the interaction between serum ferritin and BMI on CAD risk. DESIGN: Hospital-based case–control study. SETTING: Patients with CAD and the controls were recruited from Qilu Hospital, Shandong University. PARTICIPANTS: 258 CAD cases and 282 healthy controls. METHODS: Multiplicative interaction was assessed through a cross-product interaction term in a multivariate logistic regression model. The effect of serum ferritin and BMI were evaluated per 50 µg/L and per 2 kg/m(2), respectively. The presence of additive interaction between serum ferritin and BMI was evaluated by calculation of the relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), attributable proportion due to interaction (AP) and synergy index (S). RESULTS: The ORs and 95% CI of the serum ferritin–BMI product term on a multiplicative scale in the univariate and multivariate models were 0.943 (0.904 to 0.984) and 1.004 (0.951 to 1.059), respectively. There was also evidence for interaction on an additive scale; the RERI (95% CI), AP (95% CI) and S (95% CI) in the univariate model were 0.314 (0.026 to 1.506), 0.107 (0.017 to 0.241) and 1.194 (1.053 to 1.406), respectively. After adjusting for the potential confounders, the estimates and 95% CIs for the aforementioned three measures were 0.004 (−0.016 to 0.311), 0.004 (−0.016 to 0.191) and 1.039 (0.774 to 1.285), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum ferritin and BMI had an additive interaction on the risk of CAD in Chinese population. Further investigations with big sample size are necessary for confirming this additive interaction.