The BRIGHT Study Shows Geographical Disparities in Body Mass Index among Heart Transplant Recipients

Abstract

Purpose Overweight and obesity are not unexpected following heart transplantation (HTx). The variability in body mass index (BMI) of populations has been observed, yet no study has addressed BMI disparities after HTx in different countries. We thus examined the variability in BMI of HTx recipients among countries who participated in the multi-continental BRIGHT study. Methods We conducted a secondary data analysis of the BRIGHT self-reported data for 1,373 HTx recipients in four continents, 11 countries, and 36 heart transplant centers. The BMI (kg/m 2 ) was categorized into underweight (BMI linear regression . Results The median age was 56 years (IQR= 45, 63), 27.3% were female, and 34.1% had at least some university education. The mean BMI was 27.1 ± 5.7, and 59% were overweight or obese (see Figure). The highest mean BMI was in North America, followed by Australia, Europe, and South America. The regression analysis showed that higher age (B= 0.029, p=.013), male gender (B= 1.65, p post-hoc analysis for the dummy-coded country showed that only the United States (B= 4.27, p Conclusion Our data show that overweight and obesity are highly prevalent in HTx with variation among geographical regions, which calls for population-specific weight control interventions. Despite the small variance in BMI explained by the predictors, our results about geographical disparities in BMI are comparable to the ISHLT registry data for the same period. More research is warranted to elucidate the etiologies and outcomes of these geographical differences.