Author(s): Cunha, Pedro G. ; Cotter, Jorge ; Oliveira, Pedro ; Vila, Isabel ; Boutouyrie, Pierre ; Laurent, Stéphane ; Nilsson, Peter M. ; Scuteri, Angelo ; Sousa, Nuno
Date: 2015
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/41714
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Arterial stiffness; Cardiovascular risk; Early vascular aging; Epidemiology; Large artery; Portugal; Pulse wave velocity
BACKGROUND: By contrast with other southern European people, north Portuguese population registers an especially high prevalence of hypertension and stroke incidence. We designed a cohort study to identify individuals presenting accelerated and premature arterial aging in the Portuguese population. METHOD: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured in randomly sampled population dwellers aged 18-96 years from northern Portugal, and used as a marker of early vascular aging (EVA). Of the 3038 individuals enrolled, 2542 completed the evaluation. RESULTS: Mean PWV value for the entire population was 8.4?m/s (men: 8.6?m/s; women: 8.2?m/s; P??10?m/s). Logistic regression models indicated gender differences concerning the risk of developing large artery damage, with women having the same odds of PWV above 10?m/s 10 years later than men. CONCLUSION: The population PWV values were higher than expected in a low cardiovascular risk area (Portugal). High prevalence rates of EVA and noteworthy large artery damage in young ages were found.
