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Age- and gender-specific reference values of pulse wave velocity for African adults: preliminary results

AGE volume 35, pages 2345–2355 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) risk. Higher PWV values have been observed in Africans; however, there are no established age- and gender-adjusted reference values for this population. Therefore, PWV was measured using a validated device (Complior SP) in 544 subjects recruited from an occupational cohort of employees of a public university in Angola. Since high blood pressure (BP) is an important factor influencing PWV, a subsample of 301 normotensive subjects (aged 22–72 years) was selected for this study. A subset of 131 individuals without CV risk factors was considered the healthy group (HG), while the entire group (n = 301) comprised the less healthy group (LHG). Predictors of PWV were evaluated using multiple regression analyses and age- and gender-specific percentile tables and curves were constructed. Age and PWV means were 36 ± 9.7 years and 6.6 ± 1.0 m/s in the HG, respectively, and 39.9 ± 10.2 years and 7.3 ± 1.3 m/s in the LHG. Age and plasma uric acid (UA) were the only significant PWV predictors in the HG, while age, mean BP (MBP), and gender showed significant prediction of PWV in the multiple regression analysis in the LHG. Age- and gender-adjusted reference values of PWV were provided for healthy and less healthy normotensive Africans. Considering the small sample size of our cohort, these preliminary results should be used cautiously until data on robust sample of the general population can be obtained.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the subjects and staff who participated in this study for their kind cooperation. This study was supported by grants from Fundação para Ciência e Desenvolvimento, Angola and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoas do Ensino Superior (CAPES) do Brasil.

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Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitoria, Brazil

    Pedro Magalhães, Daniel P. Capingana, Roberto de Sá Cunha, Sérgio L. Rodrigues & José G. Mill

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Agostinho Neto, Luanda, Angola

    Pedro Magalhães, Daniel P. Capingana, Amílcar B. T. Silva & Albano V. L. Ferreira

Authors
  1. Pedro Magalhães
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  2. Daniel P. Capingana
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  3. Amílcar B. T. Silva
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  4. Albano V. L. Ferreira
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  5. Roberto de Sá Cunha
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  6. Sérgio L. Rodrigues
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  7. José G. Mill
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Correspondence to Pedro Magalhães.

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Magalhães, P., Capingana, D.P., Silva, A.B.T. et al. Age- and gender-specific reference values of pulse wave velocity for African adults: preliminary results. AGE 35, 2345–2355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9504-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9504-9

Keywords

  • Pulse wave velocity
  • Reference values
  • Africans