EVALUATION OF VASCULAR AGE AND ITS CONTRIBUTORS IN THE GENERAL POPULATION: PP.19.238

Abstract

Background: A sex-specific multivariable risk factor algorithm has been recently proposed to assess general CVD risk and risk of individual CVD events in primary care (D'agostino et al. Circulation. 2008;117:743).To facilitate easier understanding of the concept of risk, the authors also constructed “vascular age” sheets. An individual's vascular age is calculated as the age of a person with the same predicted risk but with all other risk factor levels in normal ranges. The aim of this study was to calculate the vascular age of a large sample of consecutive subjects attending a free health check-up. Patients and Methods: Between january 2008 and june 2009, 11351 subjects (5823 males) aged 30 to 75 years were investigated at the health center of the social security of Bobigny, France. All clinical and biological parameters were evaluated on the same day of the examination by trained investigators. Results: Active smoking was present in 28% of men and in 13% of women. Mean vascular age is presented by comparison with real age, by sex in the following table. In this cohort, a difference ranging from 7 to 10 years was demonstrated between vascular age and real age for males>40 yo and for women>50 yo. Before the age of 50 yo, active smoking is the main contributor to the excess in vascular age, whereas high blood pressure becomes the major contributor in vascular aging after 50 yo. Conclusion: Vascular age calculation is easily feasible in a primary care setting. It provides an understandable parameter of CV risk for the general population. Identifying the respective weight of each risk factor for different age/sex groups could provide a useful tool to target in specific populations the most efficient public health actions in terms of cardiovascular prevention.