%0 Journal Article
%T Adiposity indicators exhibit depot- and sex-specific associations with multimorbidity onset: A cohort study of the UK Biobank.
%A Ma L
%A Li Y
%A Li G
%A Sun J
%A Zhang X
%A Shi Z
%A Yan Y
%A Duan Y
%A Wang J
%A Li Z
%A Zhang L
%J Diabetes Obes Metab
%V 26
%N 7
%D 2024 Jul 30
%M 38686512
%F 6.408
%R 10.1111/dom.15610
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>This study investigated the depot- and sex-specific associations of adiposity indicators with incident multimorbidity and comorbidity pairs.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We selected 382 678 adults without multimorbidity (≥2 chronic diseases) at baseline from the UK Biobank. General obesity, abdominal obesity and body fat percentage indices were measured.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>Cox proportional hazard regression analyses of general obesity indices revealed that for every one-unit increase in body mass index, the risk of incident multimorbidity increased by 5.2% (95% confidence interval 5.0%-5.4%). A dose-response relationship was observed between general obesity degrees and incident multimorbidity. The analysis of abdominal obesity indices showed that for every 0.1 increment in waist-to-height ratio and waist-to-hip ratio, the risk of incident multimorbidity increased by 42.0% (37.9%-46.2%) and 27.9% (25.7%-30.0%), respectively. Central obesity, as defined by waist circumference, contributed to a 23.2% increased risk of incident multimorbidity. Hip circumference and hip-to-height ratio had protective effects on multimorbidity onset. Consistent findings were observed for males and females. Body fat percentage elevated 3% (0.2%-5.9%) and 5.3% (1.1%-9.7%) risks of incident multimorbidity in all adults and females, respectively. Arm fat percentages elevated 5.3% (0.8%-9.9%) and 19.4% (11.0%-28.5%) risks of incident multimorbidity in all adults and males, respectively. The general obesity indices, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio and central obesity increased the onset of comorbidity pairs, whereas hip circumference and hip-to-height ratio decreased the onset of comorbidity pairs. These adiposity indicators mainly affect diabetes mellitus-related comorbidity onset in males and hypertensive-related comorbidity onset in females.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Adiposity indicators are predictors of multimorbidity and comorbidity pairs and represent a promising approach for intervention.