Population-based assessment of suprasystolic vascular signals

Objective: To assess the effect of age and gender on suprasystolic acquired indices of vascular stiffness using a novel device – Pulsecor® R6.5. Design: Suprasystolic blood pressure measurements were taken in 294 subjects from primary care facilities in Auckland, New Zealand. Three measurements were taken with patients sitting for at least 5 minutes. Subjects were excluded if on any medications, pregnant or a known diabetic. The median of 3 values was obtained. The Pulsecor device assesses a reflection wave ratio (RWR) from the ratios of the amplitude of the reflection to incident wave. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient for the groups of three measurements of RWR was 0.93. RWR was significantly related to age, gender, height and systolic blood pressure. Age and gender were the most significant correlation using a multivariate model. RWR = 0.629 + 0.010 (age) – 0.00833 (height) + 0.00655 (SBP) + 0.205 (if female) Significant variability remained unexplained by this model. A weighted exercise score was acquired in 166 subjects, which showed no age bias. Subjects exercising >2 hours per day (according to the formula) had significantly lower RWR, mean (sd) of 43 (22) vs. 64 (37) (p < 0.001) (Two-Sided t-Test). Conclusion: RWR – is a repeatable measure of arterial stiffness measured from suprasystolic signals and is related to age, is increased in female and lower in subjects who exercise regularly.