Overweight (BMI of 25-30) Is Independently Associated With Significantly Higher Prevalence of Systolic and Diastolic Hypertension in Adults.

Objective: Hypertension (HTN) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Obesity has been found to be associated with HTN. However, there are not many studies available to evaluate any association between overweight alone and HTN.

Methods: A database from the Anthony Bates Foundation that performs preventive cardiovascular examinations including measurement of body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure across the United States was used for our study. Using recorded measurements, we evaluated any association between being overweight defined as a BMI of 25 to 30 and the occurrence of systolic and diastolic HTN in adults over the age of 18 years.

Results: A total of 1558 participants with documented BMI and blood pressure over the age of 18 years were studied. Among them, 758 participants had a normal BMI, and 800 had a BMI in overweight category. The prevalence of systolic and diastolic HTN was significantly higher in participants in the overweight versus normal weight cohort. Systolic HTN was present in 36% of participants in the overweight versus 14% of the normal weight group ( P < 0.00.1). Diastolic HTN was present in 43% of participants with overweight versus 21% of normal weight cohort ( P < 0.001). After adjusting for age and gender, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) remained independently associated with overweight (SBP prevalence OR, 2.8; CI, 2.1-3.6; P < 0.001; DBP prevalence OR, 2.1; CI, 1.7-2.7; P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Our study found that increased BMI in the overweight category alone is independently associated with SBP and DBP in adults undergoing screening warranting further investigation.