Association between osteosarcopenic obesity and hypertension among four minority populations in China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: Osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO) may be associated with an increased prevalence of hypertension. The aim of this study was to examine the difference in the prevalence of OSO and hypertension among four minority populations in China and explore the relationship between OSO and hypertension by sex. DESIGN: This study adopted a cross-sectional design. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 1939 participants aged ≥50 years, including 459 Jing, 514 Maonan, 535 Hmong and 431 Yao participants from Guangxi Province, China, were included using stratified cluster random sampling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The body composition, bone mineral density and blood pressure were measured by an MC-180 body composition analyser, Achilles Express ultrasound bone densitometer and OMRON HEM-1000 electronic sphygmomanometer, respectively. RESULTS: The results showed that 65.77% of Hmong men, 58.79% of Hmong women, 54.82% of Maonan men, 50.00% of Maonan women, 41.92% of Jing men, 45.21% of Jing women, 53.66% of Yao men and 42.32% of Yao women suffered from hypertension. Compared with those among the normal group, the adjusted OR and 95% CI of age among the women with OSO was 3.15 (1.13 to 8.78). After adjusting for age, ethnicity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity and menopausal status, the women with OSO also had a higher OR (OR=3.18, 95% CI 1.14 to 8.88) for hypertension than those in the normal group. However, the ORs (95% CI) for hypertension in men with one or more components were not significant after adjusting for age and ethnicity. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that OSO is a risk factor for hypertension, especially in women. Furthermore, the prevalence of OSO and hypertension in the present study displayed sex-specific and ethnic-specific differences among the four minority populations.