MEASURES OF ADIPOSITY AND CORONARY HEART-DISEASE MORTALITY IN THE CHICAGO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY STUDY

Associations of body mass index (BMI), two measures of percent body fa t derived from skinfolds, body weight adjusted for height, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and their sum, with 22-year coronary heart dis ease (CHD) mortality were compared in 1707 white men ages 40-55 years at baseline (1958) and free of CHD and cancer in 1961 in the Western E lectric Study. Because associations of adiposity measures with CHD mor tality differed by length of follow-up, analyses were conducted separa tely for the first 14 years of follow-up and years 15 through 22. In C ox regression analyses, none of the adiposity measures was significant ly related to CHD mortality for the first 14 years of follow-up. For y ears 15-22, all adiposity measures, except triceps skinfold, were sign ificantly related with adjustment for age, as well as eight other cova riates. These results indicate that a positive relation of adiposity t o CHD risk may not become apparent until several years after the asses sement of adiposity.