The relationship between body mass index, anthropometric measurements and GRACE risk score in acute coronary syndrome

Purpose This study aims to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score in patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to evaluate the results in this context. Design/methodology/approach This was a prospective cohort study of ACS patients admitted to a cardiac care unit in high specialization hospital's cardiology service. The study included 140 men aged >35 years who were diagnosed with ACS. Findings The mean age of the individuals participating in the study was 61.4 ± 10.9 years old. The mean BMI of the individuals was 25.3 ± 6.6 kg/m2, and the mean value of the waist/hip ratio was 0.85 ± 0.01. Individuals were divided into four quarters according to the GRACE score. It was determined that individuals with the highest GRACE score were very underweight or morbidly obese according to their BMI values (p = 0.04). Originality/value It has been observed that there is a U-shaped relationship between the GRACE score and the BMI in individuals diagnosed with ACS. The risk of death of ACS patients with very high or very low BMI values was found to be close to each other. Although there is a relationship between BMI and GRACE score, it is concluded that it is insufficient to determine the risk in coronary disease alone, and body fat distribution should be examined together with BMI.