Comparative Analysis of Waist-Height Ratio and Heart Rate Recovery for Predicting Coronary Heart Disease Risk Among Working Malaysian Women

PURPOSE: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cardiovascular disease leading to global mortality and is a major contributor to disability. As CHD is the main cause of death among women, early prediction of the risk of coronary heart disease would be useful. The Framingham risk score, waist-height ratio, and heart rate recovery have been used to predict CHD risk. The Framingham risk score is used to evaluate 10-year absolute risk of developing CHD. Waist Height Ratio is useful for early detection of the risk of heart disease in Malaysia, where obesity and metabolic syndrome are common across various demographics, because it is a reliable indicator of abdominal fat distribution. Heart Rate Recovery is a useful non-invasive method for early assessment of heart disease risk, featuring simplicity and the ability to represent both cardiovascular fitness and autonomic nervous system function. However, no study has compared waist-height ratio and heart-rate recovery as effective methods for predicting coronary heart disease. There is an increasing trend of CHD in Malaysia, particularly among females. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of waist-height ratio and heart-rate recovery in predicting the risk of coronary heart disease among working Malaysian women.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. Data on the Framingham risk score, waist-height measurement, and the 6-minute walk test (heart-rate recovery) were collected from 134 working women.

RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 39.13 ± 7.06 years. The results showed that the waist-to-height ratio had a weak but significant correlation with Framingham risk score (r = 0.18). However, heart rate recovery showed a negative correlation (r = -0.029) with the Framingham risk score.

CONCLUSION: The waist-height ratio is considered a more effective risk assessment method than heart-rate recovery for identifying the risk of coronary heart disease in working Malaysian women.