Associations between cardiometabolic indices and heart disease among elderly and middle-aged Chinese individuals: a retrospective longitudinal study

The cardiometabolic index (CMI) is a marker for evaluating visceral adipose distribution and lipid metabolism. This index is useful for detecting metabolic diseases as well as some cardiovascular diseases. The link between the CMI and heart disease among elderly and middle-aged individuals has yet to be fully explored. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the CMI and heart disease incidence in individuals aged 45 and over. A total of 987 participants aged 45 years and above were enrolled. Only patients without heart disease at baseline were included in the 15-year observation. The CMI was calculated by multiplying the ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by the waist‒to-height ratio. Participants were then grouped into CMI tertiles. The Kruskal‒Wallis H test and Cox regression analysis were performed. Longitudinal/panel data mixed-effects linear regression models were applied to analyze the relationships between the CMI and nonspecific inflammatory markers. In the highest tertile, there was a 1.60-fold increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) after adjusting for age and sex. There was also a positive association between time-varying CMI and hs-CRP. These findings suggest that a higher CMI is related to inflammatory processes and elevated CHD risk, thus highlighting its potential role as a marker for CHD in elderly and middle-aged Chinese individuals.