Measurement of arterial stiffness and vascular aging in community pharmacies-The ASINPHAR@2action project.

Abstract

The ASINPHAR@2action project aims at raising awareness to arterial stiffness (AS) and early vascular aging (EVA) through a community pharmacy-based intervention. This preliminary analysis is focused on the analysis of the proportion of participants with increased AS and the identification of its main determinants. We performed an observational cross-sectional study of participants enrolled in 11 community pharmacies in Portugal, between April and November 2017. Blood pressure (BP) and arterial function parameters were measured with a validated device. Clinical and demographic information was gathered, as well as the estimation of global cardiovascular risk, health-related quality of life, and dietary profile. Cholesterol and glycaemia were taken from a recent laboratory bulletin. The cohort includes 658 participants with a mean age of 57.3±16.3years, 66% women. Brachial BP was 126.6±16.4mmHg and 79.9±11.5mmHg, and central BP was 115.8±15.4mmHg and 81.2±11.6mmHg, respectively, for systolic and diastolic BP. Mean pulse wave velocity (PWV) was 8.5±2.3m/s, and the augmentation index was 23.6±15.6%. The proportion of participants with increased AS was 19.8%. The overall best-fitting model for AS included age, gender, aortic PP, visceral fat, HDL cholesterol, AIx@75, total vascular resistance, hypertension, and diabetes, corresponding to an AUC of 0.910 (CI: 0.883, 0.937; P<0.001) in the ROC curve analysis. The preliminary results of this pioneering large-scale study measuring arterial function in community pharmacies provide the grounds for the operationalization of subclinical target organ damage screening in pharmacies, as a strategy to improve cardiovascular risk monitoring and to promote adherence to treatment.