Associations of visceral adipose tissue and skeletal muscle density with incident stroke, myocardial infarction, and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling 70-year-old individuals: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Aging leads to increased visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and reduced skeletal muscle density. To which extent these are associated with the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and all-cause mortality in older adults is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 3294 70-year-old individuals (49.6% women) underwent a health examination in Umeå, Sweden, during 2012 to 2018. VAT and muscle density were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Cases of stroke, MI, and all-cause mortality were collected through national registers. Cox regressions were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs per SD greater VAT and per SD lower muscle density. During a mean follow-up of 3.6 years, there were 108 cases of stroke or MI, and 97 deaths. Greater VAT (adjusted HR [aHR], 1.56; 95% CI, 1.09– 2.22), but not lower muscle density (aHR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.97–1.34), was associated with increased risk of stroke or MI. Neither VAT (aHR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.65–1.41) nor muscle density (aHR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.92–1.34) was associated with all-cause mortality. The association of VAT with stroke or MI was only significant in men (aHR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.19– 2.91) but not women (aHR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.25–1.42) (Pinteraction =0.038). CONCLUSIONS: With the limitation of being an observational study, these findings suggest that VAT is an important obesity-related predictor of cardiovascular risk in 70-year-old men, and by implication, that decreasing VAT may potentially reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.