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. 2026 Apr 3. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1159/000551068

Fig. 2.

Sex-stratified restricted cubic splines show an L-shaped association between the “PC5_Bone density” pattern and epilepsy risk, and largely linear associations for the “PC2_Lean mass,” “PC3_Central obesity,” and “PC6_Arm-dominant fat distribution” patterns in both men and women. In men, a J-shaped association is observed for the “PC1_Fat-to-lean mass” pattern and an L-shaped association for the “PC7_Leg-dominant fat distribution” pattern, while in women, a U-shaped association is found for the “PC4_Muscle strength” pattern.

a–g Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for epilepsy risk according to identified body composition patterns on a continuous scale, with separate analyses for females (red) and males (blue). The solid lines represent the multivariate adjusted HRs, and the shaded areas indicate the 95% CIs. Reference lines for no association are marked by the dashed lines at a hazard ratio of 1.0. Restricted cubic splines were constructed with 4 knots at the 5th, 35th, 65th, and 95th percentiles for each pattern. Analyses were adjusted for sex, ethnicity, age at recruitment, Townsend deprivation index, smoking status, average weekly alcohol intake, physical activity and comorbidities (denoted as “P overall”). We tested the potential nonlinearity by using the likelihood ratio test comparing models with linear terms only versus models including both linear and cubic terms (denoted as “P nonlinearity”). HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval; PC, principal component.