THE RELATION OF FASTING INSULIN TO BLOOD-PRESSURE IN A MULTIETHNIC POPULATION - THE MIAMI COMMUNITY-HEALTH STUDY

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the associations among f asting insulin, adiposity, waist girth, and blood pressure among a non diabetic multiethnic population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed among 25-44-year-old African-Americans (n = 159), Cuban Amer icans (n = 128), and non-Hispanic whites (n = 207) selected from Date County, Florida. Fasting insulin levels Here correlated with resting b lood pressure level within each ethnic group. The separate effects of percentage body fat and waist girth on the association between blood. pressure and insulin were analyzed in multiple linear regression and a nalysis of covariance. RESULTS: Fasting insulin was positively associa ted with systolic (r = 0.26-0.39; P < 0.01) and diastolic blood pressu re (r = 0.19-0.30; P = 0.10 to P < 0.001) among women of all ethnic gr oups omit among non-Hispanic white men (r = 0.27; P < 0.05). Stepwise linear regression analyses revealed statistically significant associat ions between systolic and diastolic blood pressure and fasting insulin level in non-Hispanic whites independent of other covariates, includi ng sex and percentage body fat (P < 0.001). Fasting insulin was also i ndependently and significantly related to systolic blood pressure amon g African Americans (P = 0.02). Among Cuban-Americans, sex and percent age body fit were the main correlates of blood pressure level. Analysi s of covariance revealed a relationship between insulin and blood pres sure that was independent of waist girth among men and women. CONCLUSI ONS: Fasting insulin Level and blood pressure were positively associat ed among African Americans and non Hispanic whites. This association w as not entirely due to the common association with percentage body fat or waist girth. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.