For people with pacemakers, how heavy they are (BMI) doesn’t predict death risk — but how much fat they carry around their waist does.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Community contributions welcome

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Association of waist circumference with long-term all-cause mortality and cardiac death in patients with a pacemaker: a retrospective study

Cohort Study

Human

2025 Apr 12

This study found that for people with pacemakers, how big their waist is predicts how long they’ll live better than their overall weight (BMI). A bigger waist meant higher risk of dying, but BMI didn’t matter much.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

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Source Study

Association of waist circumference with long-term all-cause mortality and cardiac death in patients with a pacemaker: a retrospective study

Score: 58

DOI: 10.1186/s12872-025-04671-2

Similar Assertions

Pacemaker patients with a smaller waistline (under 80 cm for men, under 75 cm for women) are much less likely to die from any cause or heart-related problems over the next few years than those with a larger waist.

58

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89%

Pacemaker patients with a small waist are far less likely to die — only about 1 in 25 die from any cause over 6 years, while nearly 1 in 5 with a large waist do.

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84%

For pacemaker patients, how big their waist is matters more for survival than how well their heart pumps or how old they are.

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82%

Almost 4 out of 10 people with pacemakers have a large waist, and common heart meds like beta-blockers or statins don’t seem to reduce this obesity.

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80%