Table 6. Multivariate relative risk of death from any cause and death from specific causes according to joint categories of waist circumference and body mass index.
| Variable | Waist circumference (cm) | |||
| <80 (women); <94 (men) | 80–87 (women); 94–101 (men) | 88–95 (women); 102–117 (men) | ≥96 (women); ≥118 (men) | |
| Death from any cause | ||||
| Person-years | 575,301 | 160,084 | 42,325 | 690 |
| Body mass index 18.5–24.9 | 1.0 | 1.11 (1.05–1.17) | 1.37 (1.26–1.50) | 1.65 (0.89–3.07) |
| Person-years | 229,312 | 320,304 | 280,558 | 6,712 |
| Body mass index 25.0–29.9 | 1.0 | 1.11 (1.05–1.17) | 1.26 (1.19–1.34) | 2.01 (1.67–2.42) |
| Person-years | 9,468 | 48,550 | 221,696 | 66,001 |
| Body mass index ≥30.0 | 1.0 | 0.89 (0.72–1.10) | 1.09 (0.89–1.34) | 1.49 (1.21–1.83) |
| Death from cancer | ||||
| Body mass index 18.5–24.9 | 1.0 | 1.10 (1.02–1.20) | 1.22 (1.06–1.40) | 1.84 (0.76–4.42) |
| Body mass index 25.0–29.9 | 1.0 | 1.07 (0.98–1.16) | 1.19 (1.09–1.30) | 1.45 (1.06–1.98) |
| Body mass index ≥30.0 | 1.0 | 0.82 (0.59–1.13) | 1.01 (0.75–1.37) | 1.11 (0.81–1.52) |
| Death from cardiovascular disease | ||||
| Body mass index 18.5–24.9 | 1.0 | 1.19 (1.08–1.32) | 1.40 (1.19–1.66) | 1.92 (0.62–5.96) |
| Body mass index 25.0–29.9 | 1.0 | 1.14 (1.04–1.25) | 1.22 (1.11–1.35) | 2.38 (1.74–3.25) |
| Body mass index ≥30.0 | 1.0 | 0.84 (0.59–1.19) | 1.00 (0.72–1.38) | 1.55 (1.11–2.16) |
| Death from non-cancer/non-cardiovascular diseases | ||||
| Body mass index 18.5–24.9 | 1.0 | 1.04 (0.94–1.15) | 1.59 (1.37–1.85) | 1.15 (0.29–4.60) |
| Body mass index 25.0–29.9 | 1.0 | 1.15 (1.02–1.29) | 1.46 (1.30–1.65) | 2.74 (1.95–3.87) |
| Body mass index ≥30.0 | 1.0 | 1.18 (0.71–1.97) | 1.52 (0.94–2.47) | 2.37 (1.45–3.87) |
| Death from lung cancer | ||||
| Body mass index 18.5–24.9 | 1.0 | 1.09 (0.96–1.25) | 1.32 (1.07–1.63) | 3.06 (0.98–9.50) |
| Body mass index 25.0–29.9 | 1.0 | 1.19 (1.02–1.39) | 1.38 (1.18–1.62) | 1.84 (1.13–2.98) |
| Body mass index ≥30.0 | 1.0 | 0.83 (0.42–1.64) | 1.15 (0.61–2.17) | 1.40 (0.73–2.68) |
| Death from respiratory mortality | ||||
| Body mass index 18.5–24.9 | 1.0 | 0.96 (0.79–1.17) | 1.60 (1.22–2.08) | - |
| Body mass index 25.0–29.9 | 1.0 | 1.58 (1.12–2.21) | 2.38 (1.71–3.31) | 3.20 (1.35–7.57) |
| Body mass index ≥30.0 | 1.0 | 0.64 (0.18–2.32) | 1.19 (0.38–3.77) | 2.36 (0.74–7.56) |
The multivariate models used person-time as the underlying time metric and included the following covariates: age at entry (continuous), sex (male, female), race/ethnicity (white, black, Hispanic, Asian), smoking status (never, former, current), and alcohol intake (0, <1, <3, ≥3 drinks per day). Participants with a waist circumference of <80 cm (women) or <94 cm (men) served as the reference group.