Body mass index and prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure: insights from the Candesartan in Heart failure: Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM) program.

BACKGROUND: In individuals without known cardiovascular disease, elevated body mass index (BMI) (weight/height2) is associated with an increased risk of death. However, in patients with certain specific chronic diseases, including heart failure, low BMI has been associated with increased mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined the influence of BMI on prognosis using Cox proportional hazards models in 7599 patients (mean age, 65 years; 35% women) with symptomatic heart failure (New York Heart Association class II to IV) and a broad spectrum of left ventricular ejection fractions (mean, 39%) in the Candesartan in Heart failure: Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM) program. During a median follow-up of 37.7 months, 1831 patients died. After adjustment for potential confounders, compared with patients with BMI between 30 and 34.9, patients in lower BMI categories had a graded increase in the risk of death. The hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 1.22 (1.06 to 1.41), 1.46 (1.24 to 1.71), and 1.69 (1.43 to 2.01) among those with BMI of 25 to 29.9, 22.5 to 24.9, and or = 35 was not statistically significant (hazard ratio, 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.95 to 1.43). The association between BMI and mortality was not altered by age, smoking status, or left ventricular ejection fraction (P for interaction >0.20). However, lower BMI was associated with a greater risk of all-cause death in patients without edema but not in patients with edema (P for interaction