Sex and Race (Black-White) Differences in the Relationship of Childhood Risk Factors to Adulthood Arterial Stiffness: The Bogalusa Heart Study

• Published in: The American journal of the medical sciences 2014-08, Vol.348 (2), p.101-107
• Main Authors: Li, Shengxu, MD, PhD, Chen, Wei, MD, PhD, Yun, Miaoying, MD, PhD, Fernandez, Camilo, MD, MS, Krousel-Wood, Marie, MD, MSPH, Webber, Larry, PhD, Srinivasan, Sathanur R., PhD, Berenson, Gerald S., MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult arterial stiffness; Black or African American; Black People; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - ethnology; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Childhood CV risk factors; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Internal Medicine; Louisiana - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Race (black-white); Risk Factors; Sex; Sex Factors; Vascular Stiffness; White People; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0002-9629; 1538-2990; 1538-2990
• DOI: 10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000264

Abstract Background Cardiovascular risk factors in childhood are predictive of adulthood arterial stiffness. However, it is unknown whether this relationship varies by race or sex. Methods Six hundred and eighty adults aged 24 to 43 had been followed for an average of 26.3 years, from the Bogalusa Heart Study. Brachial to ankle pulse wave velocity (bapWV) measured by an automatic oscillometric technique was used as the outcome variable for arterial stiffness during adulthood. Body mass index (BMi), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose, and systolic blood pressure (SBP), all measured in childhood, were used as predictors. The average values of childhood measurements at multiple time points were used, standardized to age, race, and sex-specific z-scores. Results In the total sample, childhood SBP was the only significant predictor (P < 0.001) for adult baPWV. Significant interactions between sex and BMI ( P = 0.001), between sex and LDL-C ( P = 0.035), and between race and HDL-C ( P = 0.002) on adult baPWV were identified. Childhood predictors of adult baPWV were BMI (30.9 cm/s reduction in baPWV per standard deviation increase, 95% confidence interval [CI]: − 55.0, − 6.9 cm/s), LDL-C (30.8 cm/s increase, 95% CI: 2.9, 59.5 cm/s), and HDL-C (46.8 cm/s reduction, 95% CI: − 76.2, − 17.4 cm/s) in white males; SBP (38.2 cm/s increase, 95% CI: 11.0, 65.4 cm/s) in white females; BMI (71.3 cm/s reduction, 95% CI: –119.9, − 22.7 cm/s) in black males; and none in black females. Conclusions The associations of childhood cardiovascular risk factors with adult arterial stiffness varied by race and sex.