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P153 Pulse Wave Velocity Distribution in Children at a School in the North of Portugal
Artery Research volume 24, page 124 (2018)
Abstract
Background
Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness and vascular aging and an important parameter for cardiovascular risk stratification. A previous study showed high prevalence rates of early vascular aging in an adult population from the North of Portugal. The aim of this study was to characterize children from the same region regarding PWV and its relationship with central adiposity indices and blood pressure.
Methods
A convenience sample of 285 children aged 10–14 years attending a Northern Portuguese school was used. PWV, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference – blood pressure (BP) were measured. Collected data was distributed by gender, age and height specific percentiles.
Results
Mean PWV values were 5.4 ±1.0 for males and 5.1 ± 0.7 for females. We only found statistically significant differences between males and females PWV in the 13’ years old group (p = 0.02). 27.4% of the children (N = 78) had PWV ≥ 90th percentile, 64.1% of which were males (N = 50) and 15.3% (N = 12) were overweight/obese. PWV was significantly higher in children with systolic BP ≥ 90th percentile (p = 0.004). No differences were found in PWV between overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) and healthy weight children.
Conclusion
Our study found a high prevalence rate of elevated PWV in children. This is a concerning aspect, taking into account the highly recognized relationship of PWV and cardiovascular outcomes, indicating that healthy policy measures need to be implemented early in life. Future research is needed to establish PWV reference percentile curves specific for Portuguese children.
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This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license https://doi.org/creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Formigo, M., Silva, C., Formigo, N. et al. P153 Pulse Wave Velocity Distribution in Children at a School in the North of Portugal. Artery Res 24, 124 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2018.10.206
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2018.10.206