Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study

Objectives: Previous studies suggest that changes in body weight can lead to an increased risk of mortality in the general population, although the results are controversial. The current study sought to investigate this association further using data from the UK Biobank. Study design: This is a larg...

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Main Authors: Jufen Zhang, Karen Hayden, Ruth Jackson, Rudolph Schutte
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-11-01
Series:Public Health in Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666535220300641
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author Jufen Zhang
Karen Hayden
Ruth Jackson
Rudolph Schutte
author_facet Jufen Zhang
Karen Hayden
Ruth Jackson
Rudolph Schutte
author_sort Jufen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Objectives: Previous studies suggest that changes in body weight can lead to an increased risk of mortality in the general population, although the results are controversial. The current study sought to investigate this association further using data from the UK Biobank. Study design: This is a large prospective population-based cohort study. Data were derived from the UK Biobank, with the initial assessments commencing between 2006 and 2010. Methods: Proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between self-reported weight change and risk of all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality. The effect of gender was also investigated. Results: Of 433,829 participants with data for self-reported weight change, the mean age was 56 (standard deviation [SD]: 8.1) years and 55% were female. In total, 55% of participants reported no weight change, 28% gained weight, 15% lost weight, 2% did not know and 0.1% preferred not to give an answer. The median follow-up was 7.1 (interquartile range [IQR]: 6.4–7.8) years. Compared with participants with no weight change, those with weight loss had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.25, 95% confident interval [CI] 1.18–1.32), cancer death (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.08–1.27) and cardiovascular death (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.12–1.43). Similarly, participants reporting weight gain also had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.02–1.13), cancer death (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.07–1.22) and cardiovascular death (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.14–1.42). Participants who had a response ‘do not know’ or ‘prefer not to answer’ showed an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, particularly in men. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the importance of maintaining a stable weight in middle-aged adults. Further studies are needed to understand the pathophysiology of weight change and its effects on mortality.
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spelling doaj.art-ef9771c066c74316b3da4f7bf22f2fd22022-12-21T18:13:23ZengElsevierPublic Health in Practice2666-53522021-11-012100065Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort studyJufen Zhang0Karen Hayden1Ruth Jackson2Rudolph Schutte3Corresponding author. Medical School, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ, UK.; Medical School, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UKMedical School, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UKMedical School, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UKCorresponding author. Allied Health, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ, UK.; Medical School, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UKObjectives: Previous studies suggest that changes in body weight can lead to an increased risk of mortality in the general population, although the results are controversial. The current study sought to investigate this association further using data from the UK Biobank. Study design: This is a large prospective population-based cohort study. Data were derived from the UK Biobank, with the initial assessments commencing between 2006 and 2010. Methods: Proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between self-reported weight change and risk of all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality. The effect of gender was also investigated. Results: Of 433,829 participants with data for self-reported weight change, the mean age was 56 (standard deviation [SD]: 8.1) years and 55% were female. In total, 55% of participants reported no weight change, 28% gained weight, 15% lost weight, 2% did not know and 0.1% preferred not to give an answer. The median follow-up was 7.1 (interquartile range [IQR]: 6.4–7.8) years. Compared with participants with no weight change, those with weight loss had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.25, 95% confident interval [CI] 1.18–1.32), cancer death (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.08–1.27) and cardiovascular death (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.12–1.43). Similarly, participants reporting weight gain also had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.02–1.13), cancer death (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.07–1.22) and cardiovascular death (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.14–1.42). Participants who had a response ‘do not know’ or ‘prefer not to answer’ showed an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, particularly in men. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the importance of maintaining a stable weight in middle-aged adults. Further studies are needed to understand the pathophysiology of weight change and its effects on mortality.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666535220300641Weight changeAll-cause mortalityCancer deathCV deathUK Biobank
spellingShingle Jufen Zhang
Karen Hayden
Ruth Jackson
Rudolph Schutte
Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study
Public Health in Practice
Weight change
All-cause mortality
Cancer death
CV death
UK Biobank
title Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study
title_full Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study
title_fullStr Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study
title_short Associations of weight changes with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality: A prospective cohort study
title_sort associations of weight changes with all cause cancer and cardiovascular mortality a prospective cohort study
topic Weight change
All-cause mortality
Cancer death
CV death
UK Biobank
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666535220300641
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AT ruthjackson associationsofweightchangeswithallcausecancerandcardiovascularmortalityaprospectivecohortstudy
AT rudolphschutte associationsofweightchangeswithallcausecancerandcardiovascularmortalityaprospectivecohortstudy