Open AccessAssociation between pulse pressure and aortic calcification: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013‐2014
Author(s) -
Heffernan Kevin S.,
Barreira Tiago V.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/jch.13853
Subject(s) - medicine , national health and nutrition examination survey , pulse pressure , blood pressure , bone mineral , sarcopenia , osteoporosis , cardiology , demography , physical therapy , population , environmental health , sociology
Dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a low‐cost, minimal radiation technique commonly used to assess bone density and body composition that can also provide a measure of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC). We examined the association between pulse pressure (PP) and DXA‐derived AAC in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Analyses were performed in 2,478 adults from the 2013‐2014 NHANES cycle. AAC scores were calculated using a validated 24‐point scale from thoraco‐lumbar spine images (scored 1‐6 across four vertebral heights from L1‐L4 for both anterior and posterior aortic walls). We examined PP as a predictor of both the presence (dichotomous) and magnitude (continuous) of AAC in age‐stratified analyses (<60 years of age and ≥60 years of age) adjusting for traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors, sex, mean arterial pressure and additionally for age and antihypertensive medication. The prevalence of AAC was 25.5%. PP was a predictor of the presence of AAC in fully adjusted models in adults <60 years of age (OR 1.31, P < .05) and ≥60 years of age (OR 1.33, P < .05). PP was also associated with the magnitude of AAC in the overall sample but did not retain significance after separating by age‐groups and additionally adjusting for antihypertensive medication. In conclusion, PP is associated with the presence of AAC as measured by DXA in a nationally representative sample of US adults.