Relation of neck circumference and relative muscle strength and cardiovascular risk factors in sedentary women

Objective: To verify the relation of neck circumference and relative muscle strength and cardiovascular risk factors in sedentary women. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 60 premenopausal women (33.9 +/- 9.1 years; 67.4 +/- 13.6kg; 1.57 +/- 0.6cm and 27.2 +/- 5.3kg/m(2)). Based on the neck circumference, the sample was divided into two groups: Group Circumference < 35cm (n=27) and Group Circumference >= 35cm (n=33) to compare relative muscle strength and cardiovascular risk factors. The correlation between variables was tested by Pearson and Spearman correlations, with a significance level established at p<0.05. Results: The findings revealed that women with neck circumference >= 35cm presented higher values of body mass, waist circumference, body adiposity index, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin and volume of visceral fat when compared with the group with neck circumference < 35cm. Additionally, the group with larger neck circumference presented lower values of relative strength. Conclusion: Neck circumference seems to be an important predictive factor of cardiovascular risk and of relative strength loss in middleaged sedentary women.