Relationship between anthropometric indicators and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adults and older adults of Rio Branco, Acre

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between anthropometric variables and cardiovascular risk factors in adults and older adults of Rio Branco, Acre. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study with 641 adults and 957 older adults was conducted. The statistical analyses consisted of the distribution of anthropometric variables according to the cardiovascular risk factors by frequency and dispersion measures. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) using the SPSS (®) version 20.0. RESULTS: Moderate correlations were obtained in adult men for waist-hip ratio and total cholesterol (r = 0.486; p < 0.001) and for waist-hip and triglyceride ratios (r = 0.484; p < 0.001). The highest prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in adults were observed in men; in the older adults, the prevalence of hypertension was above 65% in both sexes. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was above 78% in obese adults and older adults. When analyzing the associations, a higher strength of association was found between arterial hypertension and waist-to-stature ratio (PR = 13.42; 95%CI 12.58–14.31) and body mass index greater than 30 kg/m (2) (PR = 6.61; 95%CI 6.34–6.89) in adult men. In the analysis of diabetes, the waist-hip ratio presented greater robustness in the association for women (PR = 7.53; 95%CI 6.92–8.20) and men (PR = 9.79; 95%CI 9.14–10.49). CONCLUSION: Anthropometric variables are important predictors of cardiovascular risk; however, their assessments should be performed independently, according to sex and age group.