To assess the association between dynamic patterns of change in body mass or fat mass and stroke.
A population-based cohort of participants was selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Body mass and fat mass were measured using obesity-related indices, including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and visceral adiposity index (VAI). Five changed patterns were defined: low-stable, decreasing, moderate, increasing, and persistent-high. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between obesity-related indices and stroke.
A total of 5,834 participants were included, and the median age was 58.0 years. During a 7-years follow-up period, 354 (6.1%) participants developed stroke. The baseline levels of obesity-related indices were significantly associated with incident stroke. Regarding the dynamic change patterns, the low-stable pattern carried the lowest odds for stroke and the persistent-high pattern had the highest odds for stroke, with odds ratios of all the indices ranging from 1.73 to 3.37 (all
Current status and dynamic changes in body mass and fat mass were significantly associated with incident stroke. Maintaining the low-stable pattern of body mass and fat mass as measured by weight, WC, BMI, WHtR, LAP, and VAI may be an alternative strategy for primary stroke prevention.