Measurement of Nutritional Status Using Body Mass Index, Waist-to-Hip Ratio, and Waist Circumference to Predict Treatment Outcome in Females and Males with Acute First-Ever Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate whether increased waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), or improper body mass index (BMI) may differently predict short-term outcomes in females and males with first-ever acute ischemic stroke.

METHODS: This was a retrospective study of consecutive patients (1109 females and 939 males) admitted for first-ever ischemic stroke between 2003 and 2015. Data were collected in a detailed hospital stroke registry. BMI of 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 and gender-specific normal values of WHC and WC were used as references for comparisons. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds of in-hospital death or being dead or dependent at discharge, adjusted for patients' age and prestroke disability.

RESULTS: In both sexes a high WHR increased the odds of death or dependency at discharge (odds ratio [OR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-3.08 for females and 1.43; 95% CI, 1.00-2.04 for males), but not in-hospital death alone. Increased WC was significantly associated with lower odds of either death or death and dependency at discharge in females only (OR, .36; 95% CI, .22-.58 and .69; 95% CI, .48-.97, respectively). BMI did not show any clear predictive value in either sex.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that being overweight measured with WC is a strong predictor of good outcome in women but not in men. The WHR less consistently predicts stroke outcome, as it is not associated with death at discharge alone; however, the WHR seems to be of similar clinical relevance in both genders. BMI seems to have the least clinical value in predicting stroke outcome in both genders.