ABSTRACT
Background: This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the presence of arterial stiffness in rural-dwelling Chinese adults with primary hypertension. Methods: Primary hypertension patients (n = 19,375) receiving an average of 4.5 years of antihypertension therapy were selected from the Chinese Stroke Primary Prevention Trial (mean age: 64.7 ± 7.4 years, male: 37.8%). Anthropometric, demographic, hemodynamic, and biochemical data were obtained. Arterial stiffness was assessed using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Results: BMI was inversely associated with baPWV after adjusting for gender, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, center, pulse, SBP, DBP, FBG, TC, TG, HDL-C, BUN, Scr, UA, HCY, antidiabetes treatment, lipid-lowing treatment, and antihypertensive treatment (β (SE): –10.72 (0.69), P < 0.0001). Quintile1 (Q1) was used as a reference; Q2, Q3, Q4, and Q5 groups were all inversely associated with baPWV. The β increased with increasing BMI, β (SE) was –20.29 (6.74), –30.66 (7.01), –51.82 (7.27), and –103.1 (7.62), respectively, for Q2 – Q5, P < 0.05. BMI remained inversely correlated with baPWV across differences in gender, center, blood pressure, lipid levels, and the presence or absence of diabetes subgroups. Conclusion: Increased BMI is a positive factor against the development of arterial stiffness in Chinese rural-dwelling adults with primary hypertension undergoing antihypertension treatments, after adjusting for confounding factors.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Steven E. Johnson for help in preparing this manuscript.
Conflicts of interest
None declared.
Source of funding
None.