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Sex-specific differences in the association between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity and the risk of hypertension in Chinese ethnic minorities

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Abstract

Objective

To estimate and compare sex-specific differences between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHOO) and the risk of hypertension among Dong, Bouyei, and Miao adults in southwest China.

Methods

MHOO was diagnosed when the patient had a body mass index ≥24 kg/m2 and the presence of ≤1 component of metabolic syndrome. The main outcome was the occurrence of hypertension after the diagnosis or measurement by a physician at the baseline survey. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between MHOO and the risk of hypertension.

Results

We enrolled 16,433 Chinese Dong, Bouyei, and Miao adults. Using the metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW) as a reference and after adjusting for confounders, the association between MHOO and the risk of hypertension was stronger in Dong (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.07–2.00) and Miao (OR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.48–2.85) men and did not exist in Bouyei men (OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 0.81–1.60). After adjusting for the age, the association between MHOO and the risk of hypertension was stronger in men than in women among Dong adults aged 30–59 years (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.12–2.40) and did not differ between men and women among Dong adults aged 60–79 years or among Miao or Bouyei adults.

Conclusion

The results of this study demonstrated sex-specific differences in the association between MHOO and the risk of hypertension and that sex-specific differences further differed among Dong, Bouyei, and Miao adults.

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Acknowledgements

The investigators are grateful to the dedicated participants and all research staff of the study. The project was supported with the National Key R&D Program of China, Grant/Award Number: 2017YFC0907301 and the Science and Technology Plan Project of Guizhou Province, China: QKHPTRC [2018]5403.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, Grant/Award Number: 2017YFC0907301 and the Science and Technology Plan Project of Guizhou Province, China: QKHPTRC [2018]5403.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health & key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, China

    Xin Wang, Qibing Zeng, Nana Ma, Lian Peng, Leilei Liu, Feng Hong & Yuyan Xu

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  1. Xin Wang
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by X.W., Q.Z., N.M., L.P., L.L. The first draft of the paper was written by X.W., and all authors commented on previous versions of the paper. The authors have read and approved the final paper.

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Correspondence to Feng Hong or Yuyan Xu.

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Approvals were given by the following organizations and institutes: the Sichuan University Medical Ethical Review Board (K2016038) and the research ethics committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University (2018[094]). Prior to the study, all the participants had read and signed informed consent.

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Wang, X., Zeng, Q., Ma, N. et al. Sex-specific differences in the association between metabolically healthy overweight/obesity and the risk of hypertension in Chinese ethnic minorities. Endocrine 80, 317–327 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-023-03308-8

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