Prevalence of High Arterial Stiffness and Gender-specific Differences in the Relationships with Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Aim: To investigate the relationships between arterial stiffness and classic cardiovascular risk factors with respect to gender differences in addition to the prevalence of high arterial stiffness in Chongqing, China based on an examination of 18,336 subjects. Methods: The cardio-ankle vascular index was used as a marker of arterial stiffness. The relationships between arterial stiffness and body mass index (BMI) as well as metabolic syndrome (MetS) were estimated using logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of high arterial stiffness was 12.74% in men and 9.91% in women. For age and BMI, compared with the reference group, men had higher adjusted odds ratios (ORs) in each group versus their female counterparts. For each individual index of MetS, the effects of waist circumference and systolic blood pressure (SBP) on high arterial stiffness exhibited remarkable gender differences, with women having higher ORs and adjusted ORs than men. As the sum of MetS traits increased, the ORs and adjusted ORs in the subjects also increased, with women having higher values than men in each group. Conclusions: Gender-specific differences exist in the prevalence of high arterial stiffness among subjects compared by age, BMI and MetS, with varying effects of influence for these factors between genders.