Triglyceride-glucose index as a mediator of body mass index and cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older Chinese adults: a nationally representative longitudinal cohort study
2024

Triglyceride-glucose index and cardiovascular disease risk in older Chinese adults

Sample size: 7233 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Gan Ying-Yuan, Zhai Lu, Liao Qian, Huo Rong-Rui

Primary Institution: Guangxi Medical University

Hypothesis

Does the triglyceride-glucose index mediate the relationship between body mass index and cardiovascular disease risk in middle-aged and older Chinese adults?

Conclusion

The triglyceride-glucose index is associated with cardiovascular disease risk and serves as a minor mediator between body mass index and cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older Chinese adults.

Supporting Evidence

  • Overweight increased cardiovascular disease risk by 28%.
  • Obesity increased cardiovascular disease risk by 91%.
  • The triglyceride-glucose index accounted for 18.1% of the mediation in overweight individuals.
  • The triglyceride-glucose index accounted for 9.5% of the mediation in obese individuals.
  • 1,411 incident cardiovascular disease cases were identified during the study.
  • Participants were free of heart disease and stroke at baseline.
  • The study used a causal mediation approach to analyze the data.

Takeaway

This study found that a simple blood test called the triglyceride-glucose index can help understand how being overweight or obese affects heart disease risk in older Chinese adults.

Methodology

Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study was analyzed, focusing on BMI and its association with incident cardiovascular disease over 7 years.

Potential Biases

Potential for unmeasured confounding and reverse causality due to concurrent measurement of BMI and triglyceride-glucose index.

Limitations

The study relied on self-reported cardiovascular disease diagnoses and used BMI as a measure of obesity, which may not accurately reflect body fat distribution.

Participant Demographics

Participants were middle-aged and older Chinese adults, with a mean age of 58.93 years, and 47.2% were men.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.05

Confidence Interval

95% CI, 1.17–1.29 for BMI and 95% CI, 1.07–1.19 for TyG index

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.3389/fendo.2024.1431087

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