THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND BRACHIAL ANKLE PULSE WAVE VELOCITY IN A GENERAL POPULATION

Abstract

Objective: Physical activity (PA) is recommended as a lifestyle therapy for patients with cardiovascular diseases including angina, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. Improved vascular function is suggested one of the mechanism for the clinical benefit. As a representative marker for arterial stiffness, brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) could be influenced by physical activity.

Design and Method: In the rural area, Yangpyung, Gyunggi Province in South Korea, for 1591 subjects, baPWV measurement using VP2000 (Colin, Japan), and questionnaire for physical activity were performed. Modified Stanford 7 day recall questionnaire to reflect the difference in the PA between field working seasons and the other seasons was applied to measure metabolic equivalent (METs) per day. In multiple regression model for baPWV included age, sex, BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), pulse, total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, antihypertensive medication (AHM), log HOMA, height, and eGFR.

Results: The age was 60.6 ± 9.5 years (n = 1591) and female was 59.5% (n = 947). Subjects taking antihypertensive medication was 28.9% (n = 460). In multiple regression analysis, PA in daily METs was negatively associated with baPWV (b = −0.02474, p = 0.003976), which were independent of age (b = 11.3, p < 0.0001), female (b = −53.6, p < 0.0001), BMI (b = −13.2, p < 0.0001), fasting blood glucose (b = 1.4902, p < 0.0001), AHM (b = 57.4, p = 0.00067), pulse (b = 5.25, p < 0.0001), and SBP (b = 8.6830, p < 0.0001). In our model, height, cholesterol, and log HOMA were not significant.

Conclusions: In our study, it was shown that physical activity as a comprehensive measure of total physical activity regardless of intensity is consistently associated with protective influence on baPWV. To improve vascular function, increased physical activity by any level of intensity might be recommended against vascular aging.