As a final analysis, we asked whether the obesity GRS was associated with mortality risk. The ARIC study conducted follow-up with participants through December 31, 2004 to determine whether study members had died. Mortality follow-up data were available for 8,284 of the 8,286 white participants in our analysis sample. 15% of this sample (n=1,253 individuals) died during the 17 years of follow-up from the first study visit. We analyzed mortality risk using Cox proportional hazard models to adjust for demographic and geographic factors. Independent of demographics and geography, individuals with higher genetic risk scores were more likely to die during the follow up period (Hazard Ratio=1.12, 95% CI [1.04–1.15]). Consistent with analyses of BMI and obesity, the GRS was not associated with mortality among African Americans. Figure 3 presents cumulative mortality hazards for white ARIC participants in the top, middle, and bottom quintiles of the genetic risk distribution. The mortality hazard associated with the GRS did not depend on individuals’ BMIs. Adjustment of the mortality hazard model for BMI only slightly reduced the mortality hazard associated with genetic risk (Hazard Ratio=1.10 [1.04–1.17]).
