Association between the combined fat mass and fat-free mass index and hypertension: The Tohoku Medical Megabank Community-based Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

Background

A  higher body fat percentage is associated with hypertension, even in non-obese individuals. The difference in body composition may be related to hypertension. The fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) are proposed indicators of body composition. This study aimed to examine the relationship of a combination of FMI and FFMI with hypertension.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 5,058 men and 11,842 women aged ≥ 20 years in the Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. The FMI and FFMI were calculated as the fat mass and fat-free mass divided by the height squared, respectively. The indices were classified into quartiles and combined into 16 groups. Hypertension was defined as casual blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg and/or self-reported treatment for hypertension. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for potential confounders, were used to assess the relationship of a combination of FMI and FFMI with hypertension.

Results

Higher FMI was associated with hypertension in most of the FFMI subgroups. Similarly, a higher FFMI was associated with hypertension in most of FMI subgroups. For men, the association between FFMI and hypertension in the lowest FMI group was not significant.

Conclusions

Reducing the FMI and FFMI may be important in preventing hypertension. For men, the relationship between the FFMI and hypertension in the lowest FMI group might be weak.

KEYWORDS:

• Body composition
• epidemiology
• fat-free mass index
• fat mass index
• hypertension

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the members of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, including the Genome Medical Research Coordinators and the office and administrative personnel for their assistance. The complete list of members is available at: https://www.megabank.tohoku.ac.jp/english/a200601

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest with respect to this research study.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) [grant number 19K10637] and the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) [grant number JP20km0105001].