Association between Ideal Cardiovascular Health and aortic stiffness in Italian adolescents. The MACISTE study

Background and aims: Ideal Cardiovascular Health (ICH), defined as optimal levels of cardiovascular (CV) health factors and behaviors, has been reported to be very low in adults and children, with consequent several negative health outcomes and higher CV risk. The present study investigated the burden of ICH among Italian adolescents and its association with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV). Methods and results: 387 healthy adolescents (mean age 17.1 +/- 1.4 years) attending the G. Do-natelli High School in Terni, Italy, were evaluated. ICH was assessed through clinical evaluation, laboratory measures and interviewer-administered questionnaires. Cf-PWV was measured by arterial tonometry (SphygmoCor). For each ICH metric, a score of 2 was assigned for ideal levels, 1 for intermediate, and 0 for poor. All subjects showed at least one ICH metric, whereas none showed all ICH 7 metrics. The average number of ICH metrics was 4.3 +/- 1.1. The highest rates were observed for fasting blood glucose (98%), whereas an ideal healthy diet was achieved only by 8% of subjects. The Cf-PWV was inversely and linearly associated with the sum of ICH metrics (p = 0.03) and the ICH score (p < 0.01). At the multivariate analysis, the association between ICH score and cf-PWV remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, heart rate, mean arterial pressure and other confounders (p = 0.04). Conclusion: ICH is relatively uncommon among Italian adolescents and inversely related to cf-PWV. Our results showed a detrimental association between CV unhealthy factors and behaviors with increased aortic stiffness, which starts developing at an early stage of the lifespan. (c) 2021 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigated the burden of Ideal Cardiovascular Health (ICH) among Italian adolescents and its association with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV). Results revealed that ICH is relatively uncommon among Italian adolescents and is inversely related to cf-PWV. The study showed a detrimental association between cardiovascular unhealthy factors and behaviors with increased aortic stiffness in early stages of life.