Background: Increased blood pressure (BP) in young adulthood is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Longitudinal studies of patients at young ages are, however, limited. Our aim was to study the relationships of adolescent BP and tracking of BP into young adulthood with subclinical atherosclerosis, as assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), at the age of 28 years.
Methods: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Young Adults (ARYA) study comprises of a community-based sample of 750 subjects aged 27 to 30 years. In the 352 men and 398 women, at least one BP measurement was recorded at a mean age of 13 years in school health records. Recently, all participants completed a questionnaire on cardiovascular risk factors, had a fasting blood sample drawn, and underwent an ultrasound examination of both common carotid arteries to assess CIMT.
Results: Linear regression showed that adolescent systolic BP was associated with thickening of the intima-media (an increase of 7.5 microm in CIMT per standard deviation increase in systolic BP; 95% CI 4.3 to 10.6). Similar relations were found for pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure. When sex, age, and body mass index at adolescence and young adulthood and adult BP were taken into account, the relations attenuated, but for pulse pressure they remained statistically significant. Furthermore, subjects who tracked in the highest systolic BP and pulse pressure levels from adolescence into young adulthood showed the thickest CIMT.
Conclusion: Our findings strengthen the notion that elevated BP at adolescence and a relative increase in BP from adolescence to adulthood unfavorably affect cardiovascular risk, as indicated by increased CIMT.