Elevated fasting blood glucose, but not obesity, is associated with coronary artery disease in patients undergoing elective coronary angiography in a referral hospital in Jordan

BACKGROUND: Obesity and its metabolic complications are endemic in the Middle East, but the cardiovascular consequences are not well defined in local studies. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between fasting blood glucose (FBG), obesity and coronary artery disease (CAD) in Jordan. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, hospital-based study. SETTING: A referral hospital in Amman, Jordan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with complete anthropomorphic data who were referred for elective coronary angiography were included in the analysis. Associations between CAD, FBG and obesity were assessed in multivariate logistic regression models, adjusting for known risk factors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The presence of CAD. SAMPLE SIZE: 434 subjects. RESULTS: Only those who underwent coronary angiography and had complete anthropometric data were included in the study: 291 (67.1%) had CAD and 143 (32.9%) had a normal coronary angiogram.The mean body mass index, waist circumference and FBG of the study participants was 30.0 kg/m2, 106.0 cm and 8.8 mmol/L, respectively. The mean FBG was significantly higher in patients with CAD compared to those without CAD (9.5 vs. 7.3 mmol/L, P less than .001). Waist circumference was significantly higher in women with CAD compared to women without CAD (111.0 vs. 105.9 cm, P=.036), but no significant difference was observed in men. In a multivariate analysis, FBG was a strong and significant predictor of CAD; however, none of the measures of obesity were significantly associated with CAD. The findings were robust in a sensitivity analysis that excluded patients with known diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated FBG, but not obesity, predicted CAD in a Middle Eastern population. Improved prevention, detection and management of type 2 diabetes should be a priority in this setting. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design cannot control for temporal changes in risk factors and/or reverse causation.