Body composition and ankle-brachial index in Ghanaians with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease in a tertiary hospital

BACKGROUND: Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and indices of obesity are both use to indicate cardiovascular risk. However, association between body composition indices and ABI, a measure of peripheral arterial disease, is inconsistent in various study reports. In this study, we investigated the relationship between ABI and general and central indices of obesity in Ghanaians without history of cardiovascular diseases. METHOD: In a case–control design, ABI was measured in a total of 623 subjects and categorised into PAD (ABI ≤ 0.9, n = 261) and non-PAD (ABI > 0.9, n = 362) groups. Anthropometric indices, BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-height ratio (WHtR) were also measured. RESULTS: PAD subjects had higher mean BMI (29.8 ± 8.7 vs. 26.5 ± 7.6 kg/m(2), p = 0.043) and waist circumference (95 ± 15 vs. 92 ± 24 cm, p = 0.034) than non-PAD subjects. In multivariable logistic regression models, having BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2) increased the odds of both unilateral [OR (95 % CI): 2 (1.14–3.51), p < 0.01] and overall PAD [2 (1.22–3.27), p < 0.01]. CONCLUSION: In indigenous Ghanaians in our study, PAD participants had higher BMI and waist circumference than non-PAD participants. Also, halving BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2) was associated with twofold increase in the odds of PAD. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40608-016-0107-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.