Association between mid-upper arm circumference and cardiometabolic risk in Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Upper body fat has been associated with an unfavourable cardiometabolic risk. We aimed to investigate the associations between mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), a novel indicator of upper body fat, and a wide spectrum of cardiometabolic risk profiles in Chinese population. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional analyses were performed using data from a well-defined community in 2014, Shanghai, China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 6287 Chinese adults (2310 men and 3977 women) aged 40 years or older. OUTCOME MEASURES: Multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine the associations of MUAC with cardiometabolic disorders including central obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hypertriglyceridaemia, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and subclinical atherosclerosis. RESULTS: In the overall participants, after multivariable adjustment, each 1 SD (3.13 cm) increment in MUAC was positively associated with central obesity (OR 2.05; 95% CI 1.85 to 2.28), hypertension (OR 1.10; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.19) and low HDL cholesterol (OR 1.10; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.22). Multivariable-adjusted ORs for subclinical atherosclerosis were gradually increased across increasing quartiles of MUAC with the lowest quartile as reference (quartile 2: OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.58; quartile 3: OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.10 to 1.62; quartile 4: OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.80; p for trend=0.005). Similar but more prominent associations were observed among women than men. In addition, MUAC was significantly interacted with diabetes (p for interaction=0.04) and insulin resistance (p for interaction=0.01) on subclinical atherosclerosis. CONCLUSION: A greater MUAC was positively associated with higher risks of several cardiometabolic disorders and subclinical atherosclerosis in Chinese adults.