This study examined the association between four anthropometric measures [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist/height and waist/height2] and coronary artery disease (CAD) in a large sample of subjects recruited in 444 Polisch cities. In a cohort of 16 657 subjects, 42.8% of subjects were classified as overweight, 31.7% as obese and 39.8% had abdominal obesity. Results revealed high prevalence of overweight and obesity in middle-aged and elderly Eastern European subjects. Moreover, the results showed that all four assessed obesity measures correlated very well with CAD after adjusting for age and gender. Among the four anthropometric measures, waist/height2 was the best correlate of CAD in men after adjusting for multiple cardiovascular risk factors. This cross-sectional study reported that waist/height2 seemed to have a slightly higher predictive value of CAD in this population.
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