Racial Differences and Temporal Obesity Trends in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Melissa C. Caughey*, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Sameer Arora, Arman Qamar, Robert J. Mentz, Patricia P. Chang, Clyde W. Yancy, Stuart D. Russell, Sanjiv J. Shah, Wayne D. Rosamond, Ambarish Pandey

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Obesity increases with age, is disproportionately prevalent in black populations, and is associated with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). An “obesity paradox,” or improved survival with obesity, has been reported in patients with HFpEF. The aim of this study was to examine whether racial differences exist in the temporal trends and outcomes associated with obesity among older patients with HFpEF. DESIGN: Community surveillance of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) hospitalizations, sampled by stratified design from 2005 to 2014. SETTING: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (NC, MS, MD, MN). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 10,147 weighted hospitalizations for ADHF (64% female, 74% white, mean age 77 years), with ejection fraction ≥50%. MEASUREMENTS: ADHF classified by physician review, HFpEF defined by ejection fraction ≥50%. Body mass index (BMI) calculated from weight at hospital discharge. Obesity defined by BMI ≥30 kg/m2, class III obesity by BMI ≥40 kg/m2. RESULTS: When aggregated across 2005–2014, the mean BMI was higher for black compared to white patients (34 vs 30 kg/m2; P <.0001), as was prevalence of obesity (56% vs 43%; P <.0001) and class III obesity (24% vs 13%; P <.0001). Over time, the annual mean BMI and prevalence of class III obesity remained stable for black patients, but steadily increased for white patients, with annual rates statistically differing by race (P-interaction =.04 and P =.03, respectively). For both races, a U-shaped adjusted mortality risk was observed across BMI categories, with the highest risk among patients with a BMI ≥40 kg/m2. CONCLUSION: Black patients were disproportionately burdened by obesity in this decade-long community surveillance of older hospitalized patients with HFpEF. However, temporal increases in mean BMI and class III obesity prevalence among white patients narrowed the racial difference in recent years. For both races, the worst survival was observed with class III obesity. Effective strategies are needed to manage obesity in patients with HFpEF.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1309-1318
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the American Geriatrics Society
Volume69
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2021

Funding

The authors thank the staff and participants of the ARIC study for their important contributions. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract numbers (HHSN268201700001I, HHSN268201700002I, HHSN268201700003I, HHSN268201700005I, HHSN268201700004I). No authors report disclosures relevant to the contents of this paper. Dr Vaduganathan is supported by the KL2/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training award from Harvard Catalyst (NIH/NCATS Award UL 1TR002541), serves on advisory boards for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Baxter Healthcare, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cytokinetics, and Relypsa, and participates on clinical endpoint committees for studies sponsored by Novartis and the NIH. Dr Qamar is supported by institutional grant support from the NorthShore Auxiliary research scholar fund and has received funding from Daiichi-Sankyo, American Heart Association and fees for educational activities from the American College of Cardiology, Society for Vascular Medicine, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Janssen and Janssen, Pfizer, Medscape, and Clinical Exercise Physiology Association. Dr Mentz receives research support from the National Institutes of Health (U01HL125511-01A1 and R01AG045551-01A1), Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, InnoLife, Luitpold/American Regent, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi; honoraria from Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boston Scientific, Janssen, Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and Vifor; and has served on an advisory board for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Luitpold, Merck, Novartis, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Shah has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL107577, R01 HL127028, R01 HL140731, and R01 HL149423), the American Heart Association (#16SFRN28780016), Actelion, AstraZeneca, Corvia, Novartis, and Pfizer; and has received consulting fees from Abbott, Actelion, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Axon Therapeutics, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cardiora, CVRx, Cytokinetics, Eisai, GSK, Ionis, Ironwood, Merck, MyoKardia, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Shifamed, Tenax, and United Therapeutics. Dr. Pandey has served on the advisory board of Roche Diagnostics and has received research support from Texas Health Resources Clinical Scholarship, the Gilead Sciences Research Scholar Program, the National Institute of Aging GEMSSTAR Grant (1R03AG067960-01), and Applied Therapeutics. The authors have no conflicts. Drs Caughey and Pandey conceptualized the study and wrote the manuscript. Dr Caughey performed the statistical analysis. Drs Vadugananthan, Arora, Qamar, Mentz, Chang, Yancy, Russell, Shah, and Rosamond interpreted the data and revised the manuscript critically. The sponsor had no role in the study conceptualization, statistical analysis, manuscript writing, interpretation, or presentation of results. No authors report disclosures relevant to the contents of this paper. Dr Vaduganathan is supported by the KL2/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training award from Harvard Catalyst (NIH/NCATS Award UL 1TR002541), serves on advisory boards for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Baxter Healthcare, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cytokinetics, and Relypsa, and participates on clinical endpoint committees for studies sponsored by Novartis and the NIH. Dr Qamar is supported by institutional grant support from the NorthShore Auxiliary research scholar fund and has received funding from Daiichi‐Sankyo, American Heart Association and fees for educational activities from the American College of Cardiology, Society for Vascular Medicine, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Janssen and Janssen, Pfizer, Medscape, and Clinical Exercise Physiology Association. Dr Mentz receives research support from the National Institutes of Health (U01HL125511‐01A1 and R01AG045551‐01A1), Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, InnoLife, Luitpold/American Regent, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi; honoraria from Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boston Scientific, Janssen, Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and Vifor; and has served on an advisory board for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Luitpold, Merck, Novartis, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Shah has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL107577, R01 HL127028, R01 HL140731, and R01 HL149423), the American Heart Association (#16SFRN28780016), Actelion, AstraZeneca, Corvia, Novartis, and Pfizer; and has received consulting fees from Abbott, Actelion, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Axon Therapeutics, Bayer, Boehringer‐Ingelheim, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Cardiora, CVRx, Cytokinetics, Eisai, GSK, Ionis, Ironwood, Merck, MyoKardia, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Shifamed, Tenax, and United Therapeutics. Dr. Pandey has served on the advisory board of Roche Diagnostics and has received research support from Texas Health Resources Clinical Scholarship, the Gilead Sciences Research Scholar Program, the National Institute of Aging GEMSSTAR Grant (1R03AG067960‐01), and Applied Therapeutics. The authors thank the staff and participants of the ARIC study for their important contributions. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract numbers (HHSN268201700001I, HHSN268201700002I, HHSN268201700003I, HHSN268201700005I, HHSN268201700004I).

Keywords

  • epidemiology
  • heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
  • obesity
  • race
  • surveillance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geriatrics and Gerontology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Racial Differences and Temporal Obesity Trends in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this