Relation of body mass index to fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events after cardiac rehabilitation.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether body mass index (BMI) influences survival and recurrent cardiovascular events in a cardiac rehabilitation population. We followed 389 consecutive entrants to cardiac rehabilitation for 6.4 +/- 1.8 years. Patients were stratified into 3 groups: normal (BMI 18 to 24.9 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9 kg/m(2)), and obese (BMI > or =30 kg/m(2)). Total and cardiovascular mortality were inversely associated with BMI category in bivariate models. However, only cardiovascular mortality was significant after adjustment for age and gender (p < 0.044), with cardiovascular death rates of 10% in normal, 8% in overweight, and 2% in obese patients. The rates of nonfatal recurrent events were 10% in normal, 24% in overweight, and 25% in obese patients. Our data indicate that BMI is inversely related to cardiovascular mortality but positively related to the risk of nonfatal recurrent events.