Observational studyBMC cardiovascular disorders2021
Anthropometric measures and the risk of developing atrial fibrillation: a Swedish Cohort Study.
Observational study in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Obesity effect on newly diagnosed and recurrent post-ablation atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2024Pooled it
- Systemic Inflammation Is Associated with Resting Premature Atrial and Ventricular Contractions in American Older Adults.The Journal of innovations in cardiac rhythm management · 2026Article
- Lifestyle modification in atrial fibrillation: Mechanisms, phenotypes and ablation outcomes.Experimental physiology · 2026Review
- Elucidating the Linkage Between Obesity-Related Body Fat Indicators and Atrial Fibrillation: Supported by Evidence From Mendelian Randomization and Mediation Analyses.Clinical cardiology · 2025Article
- Association between Body Mass Index and Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction in Obese Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Referred for Catheter Ablation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Multiple anthropometric measures and proarrhythmic 12-lead ECG indices: A mendelian randomization study.PLoS medicine · 2023Article
- Incidence of clinical atrial fibrillation and related complications using a screening algorithm at a nationwide level.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2023Article
- Indexing of Left Atrial Volume by Body Surface Area and Height in a Brazilian Population without Previous Heart Disease and with a Normal Heart on Echocardiography. Behavior in Obese and Overweight Patients.Cardiology and cardiovascular medicine · 2023Article
- How to use digital devices to detect and manage arrhythmias: an EHRA practical guide.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2022Article
- Elevated levels of body mass index and waist circumference, but not high variability, are associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation.BMC medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsObesity is a risk factor for several cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it is less clear whether overall fat or abdominal fat distribution are most important for risk of developing AF. This study investigates how different anthropometric measures correlate to the risk of developing clinical AF in the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort (MDC-cohort).
methodsThe MDC-cohort (n = 25,961) was examined in 1991-1996. The endpoint was clinical AF diagnosed in a hospital setting, and retrieved via linkage with national registers. Hazard Ratios (HR) for incident AF was calculated in relation to quartiles of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist hip ratio, waist height ratio, body fat percentage, weight and height, using Cox regression with adjustment for age, biological (e.g. blood pressure, diabetes, blood lipid levels), and socioeconomic risk factors.
resultsAfter adjustment for multiple risk factors, the risk of AF was significantly increased in the 4th versus 1st quartile of weight (HR for men/women = 2.02/1.93), BMI (HR = 1.62/1.52), waist circumference (HR = 1.67/1.63), waist to hip ratio (HR = 1.30/1.24), waist to height ratio (1.37/1.39) and body fat percentage (HR = 1.21/1.45) in men/women. Measures of overall weight (BMI, weight) were slightly more predictive than measures of abdominal obesity (waist hip ratio and waist height ratio) both in men and women.
conclusionAll measures of obesity were associated with increased risk of developing AF. Both overall obesity and abdominal obesity were related to incidence of AF in this population-based study, although the relationship for overall obesity was stronger.
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