Aim: The concept of risk age may help overcome an excessive weight of age in cardiovascular risk functions. This study aimed to evaluate the equivalence of risk age with arterial stiffness by ...comparing people with increased risk age and individuals with the same chronological and risk age. In order to materialize this aim, we categorized individuals based on cardiovascular risk and compared groups with increased risk factors (other than age) and groups with normal levels.Methods: This is a cross-sectional population-level study carried out in Girona province within the context of the REGICOR study (Girona Heart Registry). In this study, individuals aged 35–90 years who had a brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity measurement and with no previous cardiovascular disease or peripheral arterial disease were included. Cardiovascular risk was estimated with the FRESCO (in 35–79 year-olds), SCORE2 (in 35–69 year-olds), and SCORE2-OP (in 70–90 year-olds) functions and categorized to calculate and compare (in each category) the median chronological age in the group with increased risk factors and the reference. Arterial stiffness was assessed with the brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). The analyses were carried out separately by sex. Results: In this study, 2499 individuals were included, with a mean age of 59.7 and 46.9% of men. Men presented worse health condition, including a higher mean cardiovascular disease risk score. Both men and women with increased levels of risk factors showed worse health condition than the respective men and women with optimal levels. In each risk category, the groups with higher risk age than chronological age (increased risk factors) were similar in baPWV values to the groups with the same chronological and risk ages (reference), who were consistently older.Conclusions: In categories with the same cardiovascular risk, the arterial stiffness of participants with a higher risk factor burden (increased risk age) matched that of older participants with the rest of the risk factors at optimal levels (same chronological and risk age). These results support the guidelines on the utilization of risk age to explain heightened cardiovascular risk, particularly among individuals in middle age.
To explore the role of chronic inflammation inherent to autoimmune diseases in the development of subclinical atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness, this study recruited two population-based samples ...of individuals with and without autoimmune disease (ratio 1:5) matched by age, sex, and education level and with a longstanding (≥6 years) diagnosis of autoimmune disease. Common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and arterial distensibility and compliance were assessed with carotid ultrasound. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were adjusted for 10-year cardiovascular risk. In total, 546 individuals with and without autoimmune diseases (91 and 455, respectively) were included. The mean age was 66 years (standard deviation 12), and 240 (43.9%) were women. Arterial stiffness did not differ according to the presence of autoimmune diseases. In men, the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases significantly increased common carotid IMT beta-coefficient (95% confidence interval): 0.058 (0.009; 0.108); p value = 0.022 and the percentage with IMT ≥ 75th percentile 1.012 (0.145; 1.880); p value = 0.022. Women without autoimmune disease were more likely to have IMT ≥ the 75th percentile -2.181 (-4.214; -0.149); p value = 0.035, but the analysis of IMT as a continuous variable did not yield significant results. In conclusion, subclinical carotid atherosclerosis, but not arterial stiffness, was more common in men with autoimmune diseases. Women did not show significant differences in any of these carotid features. Sex was an effect modifier in the association between common carotid IMT values and the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.
ObjectiveTo examine the association between chronic immune-mediated diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus or the following chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diagnoses ...groups: inflammatory bowel diseases, inflammatory polyarthropathies, systemic connective tissue disorders and spondylopathies) and the 6-year coronary artery disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease incidence and overall mortality; and to estimate the population attributable fractions for all four end-points for each chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease.MethodsCohort study of individuals aged 35–85 years, with no history of cardiovascular disease from Catalonia (Spain). The coded diagnoses of chronic immune-mediated diseases and cardiovascular diseases were ascertained and registered using validated codes, and date of death was obtained from administrative data. Cox regression models for each outcome according to exposure were fitted to estimate HRs in two models 1 : after adjustment for sex, age, cardiovascular risk factors and 2 further adjusted for drug use. Population attributable fractions were estimated for each exposure.ResultsData were collected from 991 546 participants. The risk of cardiovascular disease was increased in systemic connective tissue disorders (model 1: HR=1.38 (95% CI 1.21 to 1.57) and model 2: HR=1.31 (95% CI 1.15 to 1.49)), rheumatoid arthritis (HR=1.43 (95% CI 1.26 to 1.62) and HR=1.31 (95% CI 1.15 to 1.49)) and inflammatory bowel diseases (HR=1.18 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.32) and HR=1.12 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.25)). The effect of anti-inflammatory treatment was significant in all instances (HR=1.50 (95% CI 1.24 to 1.81); HR=1.47 (95% CI 1.23 to 1.75); HR=1.43 (95% CI 1.19 to 1.73), respectively). The population attributable fractions for all three disorders were 13.4%, 15.7% and 10.7%, respectively.ConclusionSystemic connective tissue disorders and rheumatoid arthritis conferred the highest cardiovascular risk and population impact, followed by inflammatory bowel diseases.
: Cities often experience high air pollution and noise levels and lack of natural outdoor environments, which may be detrimental to health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of air ...pollution, noise, and blue and green space on premature all-cause mortality in Barcelona using a mega cohort approach.
: Both men and women of 18 years and above registered on 1 January 2010 by the Sistema d'Informació pel Desenvolupament de la Investigació en Atenció Primària (SIDIAP) and living in the city of Barcelona were included in the cohort and followed up until 31 December 2014 or until death (
= 2,939,067 person years). The exposure assessment was conducted at the census tract level (
= 1061). We assigned exposure to long term ambient levels of nitrogen dioxides (NO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO
), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM
), between 2.5 µm and 10 µm (PM
, i.e., coarse particulate matter), less than 10 µm (PM
) and PM
light absorption (hereafter referred to as PM
absorbance) based on land use regressions models. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was assigned based on remote sensing data, percentage green space and blue space were calculated based on land use maps and modelled road traffic noise was available through the strategic noise map for Barcelona.
: In this large prospective study (
= 792,649) in an urban area, we found a decreased risk of all-cause mortality with an increase in green space measured as NDVI (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.92, 95% CI 0.89⁻0.97 per 0.1) and increased risks of mortality with an increase in exposure to blue space (HR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01⁻1.06 per 1%), NO₂ (HR = 1.01, 95% CI 1.00⁻1.02 per 5 ug/m³) but no risk with noise (HR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.98⁻1.02 per 5 dB(A)). The increased risks appeared to be more pronounced in the more deprived areas. Results for NDVI, and to a lesser extent NO₂, remained most consistent after mutual adjustment for other exposures. The NDVI estimate was a little attenuated when NO₂ was included in the model. The study had some limitations including e.g., the assessment of air pollution, noise, green space and socioeconomic status (SES) on census tract level rather than individual level and residual confounding.
: This large study provides new insights on the relationship between green and blue space, noise and air pollution and premature all-cause mortality.
Abstract Background Evidence is lacking about the effectiveness of risk reduction interventions in patients with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease. Objectives This study aimed to assess ...whether statin therapy was associated with a reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and mortality in this population. Methods Data were obtained from 2006 through 2013 from the Catalan primary care system’s clinical records database (SIDIAP). Patients age 35 to 85 years with an ankle-brachial index ≤0.95 and without clinically recognized cardiovascular disease (CVD) were included. Participants were categorized as statins nonusers or new-users (first prescription or represcribed after at least 6 months) and matched 1:1 by inclusion date and propensity score for statin treatment. Conditional Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to compare the groups for the incidence of MACE (myocardial infarction, cardiac revascularization, and ischemic stroke) and all-cause mortality. Results The matched-pair cohort included 5,480 patients (mean age 67 years; 44% women) treated/nontreated with statins. The 10-year coronary heart disease risk was low (median: 6.9%). Median follow-up was 3.6 years. Incidence of MACE was 19.7 and 24.7 events per 1,000 person-years in statin new-users and nonusers, respectively. Total mortality rates also differed: 24.8 versus 30.3 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. Hazards ratios were 0.80 for MACE and 0.81 for overall mortality. The 1-year number needed to treat was 200 for MACE and 239 for all-cause mortality. Conclusions Statin therapy was associated with a reduction in MACE and all-cause mortality among participants without clinical CVD but with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease, regardless of its low CVD risk. The absolute reduction was comparable to that achieved in secondary prevention.
Area-based measures of economic deprivation are seldom applied to large medical records databases to establish population-scale associations between deprivation and disease.
To study the association ...between deprivation and incidence of common cancer types in a Southern European region.
Retrospective ecological study using the SIDIAP (Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care) database of longitudinal electronic medical records for a representative population of Catalonia (Spain) and the MEDEA index based on urban socioeconomic indicators in the Spanish census. Study outcomes were incident cervical, breast, colorectal, prostate, and lung cancer in 2009-2012. The completeness of SIDIAP cancer recording was evaluated through linkage of a geographic data subset to a hospital cancer registry. Associations between MEDEA quintiles and cancer incidence was evaluated using zero-inflated Poisson regression adjusted for sex, age, smoking, alcoholism, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.
SIDIAP sensitivity was 63% to 92% for the five cancers studied. There was direct association between deprivation and lung, colorectal, and cervical cancer: incidence rate ratios (IRR) 1.82 1.64-2.01, IRR 1.60 1.34-1.90, IRR 1.22 1.07-1.38, respectively, comparing the most deprived to most affluent areas. In wealthy areas, prostate and breast cancers were more common: IRR 0.92 0.80-1.00, IRR 0.91 0.78-1.06. Adjustment for confounders attenuated the association with lung cancer risk (fully adjusted IRR 1.16 1.08-1.25), reversed the direction of the association with colorectal cancer (IRR 0.90 0.84-0.95), and did not modify the associations with cervical (IRR 1.27 1.11-1.45), prostate (0.74 0.69-0.80), and breast (0.76 0.71-0.81) cancer.
Deprivation is associated differently with the occurrence of various cancer types. These results provide evidence that MEDEA is a useful, area-based deprivation index for analyses of the SIDIAP database. This information will be useful to improve screening programs, cancer prevention and management strategies, to reach patients more effectively, particularly in deprived urban areas.
Background Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), the most frequent hereditary cause of premature coronary heart disease (CHD), is underdiagnosed and insufficiently treated. Objectives The objectives of ...the study were to estimate the prevalence of the FH phenotype (FH-P) and to describe its clinical characteristics in a Mediterranean population. Methods Data were obtained from the Catalan primary care system's clinical records database (Catalan acronym: SIDIAP). Patients aged >7 years with at least 1 low-density lipoprotein cholesterol measurement recorded between 2006 and 2014 (n = 2,554,644) were included. Heterozygous FH-P and homozygous FH-P were defined by untreated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol plasma concentrations. The presence of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors was defined by coded medical records from primary care and hospital discharge databases. Results The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of heterozygous FH-P and homozygous FH-P were 1/192 individuals and 1/425,774 individuals, respectively. In the group aged 8 to 18 years, 0.46% (95% confidence interval: 0.41–0.52) had FH-P; overall prevalence was 0.58% (95% confidence interval: 0.58–0.60). Among patients with FH-P aged >18 years, cardiovascular disease prevalence was 3.5 times higher than in general population, and CHD prevalence in those aged 35 to 59 years was 4.5 times higher than in those without FH-P. Lipid-lowering therapy was lacking in 13.5% of patients with FH-P, and only 31.6% of men and 22.7 of women were receiving high or very high-intensity lipid-lowering therapy. Conclusion Prevalence of FH-P was higher than expected, but underdiagnosed and suboptimally treated, especially in women. Moreover, treatment started late considering the high CHD incidence associated with this condition.
Cold spells and heatwaves increase mortality. However little is known about the effect of heatwaves or cold spells on cardiovascular morbidity. This study aims to assess the effect of cold spells and ...heatwaves on cardiovascular diseases in a Mediterranean region (Catalonia, Southern Europe).
We conducted a population-based retrospective study. Data were obtained from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care and from the Catalan Meteorological Service. The outcome was first emergency hospitalizations due to coronary heart disease, stroke, or heart failure. Exposures were: cold spells; cold spells and 3 or 7 subsequent days; and heatwaves. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using the self-controlled case series method. We accounted for age, time trends, and air pollutants; results were shown by age groups, gender or cardiovascular event type.
There were 22,611 cardiovascular hospitalizations in winter and 17,017 in summer between 2006 and 2013. The overall incidence of cardiovascular hospitalizations significantly increased during cold spells (IRR = 1.120; CI 95%: 1.10-1.30) and the effect was even stronger in the 7 days subsequent to the cold spell (IRR = 1.29; CI 95%: 1.22-1.36). Conversely, cardiovascular hospitalizations did not increase during heatwaves, neither in the overall nor in the stratified analysis.
Cold spells but not heatwaves, increased the incidence of emergency cardiovascular hospitalizations in Catalonia. The effect of cold spells was greater when including the 7 subsequent days. Such knowledge might be useful to develop strategies to reduce the impact of extreme temperature episodes on human health.
Objective To assess the seasonality of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in a large set of population-based studies. Methods Cross-sectional data from 24 population-based studies from 15 countries, ...with a total sample size of 237 979 subjects. CVRFs included Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference; systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure; total, high (HDL) and low (LDL) density lipoprotein cholesterol; triglycerides and glucose levels. Within each study, all data were adjusted for age, gender and current smoking. For blood pressure, lipids and glucose levels, further adjustments on BMI and drug treatment were performed. Results In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, CVRFs levels tended to be higher in winter and lower in summer months. These patterns were observed for most studies. In the Northern Hemisphere, the estimated seasonal variations were 0.26 kg/m2 for BMI, 0.6 cm for waist circumference, 2.9 mm Hg for SBP, 1.4 mm Hg for DBP, 0.02 mmol/L for triglycerides, 0.10 mmol/L for total cholesterol, 0.01 mmol/L for HDL cholesterol, 0.11 mmol/L for LDL cholesterol, and 0.07 mmol/L for glycaemia. Similar results were obtained when the analysis was restricted to studies collecting fasting blood samples. Similar seasonal variations were found for most CVRFs in the Southern Hemisphere, with the exception of waist circumference, HDL, and LDL cholesterol. Conclusions CVRFs show a seasonal pattern characterised by higher levels in winter, and lower levels in summer. This pattern could contribute to the seasonality of CV mortality.
Effect of prediabetes and normal glucose on arterial stiffness remains controversial. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), postprandial ...glucose (PG) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) with brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) in Caucasian adults. The secondary aim was to analyse this relationship by glycaemic status.
Cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary care. Participants: 2,233 subjects, 35-74 years. Measures: FPG (mg/dL) and HbA1c (%) of all subjects were measured using standard automated enzymatic methods. PG (mg/dL) was self-measured at home two hours after meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for one day using an Accu-chek ® glucometer. CAVI was measured using a VaSera VS-1500® device (Fukuda Denshi), and baPWV was calculated using a validated equation.
CAVI and baPWV values were significantly higher in subjects with diabetes mellitus than in glucose normal and prediabetes groups (p<0.001). FPG, PG and HbA1c were positively associated with CAVI and baPWV. The β regression coefficient for: HbA1c was 0.112 (CI 95% 0.068 to 0.155) with CAVI, 0.266 (CI 95% 0.172 to 0.359) with baPWV; for PG was 0.006 (CI 95% 0.004 to 0.009 and for FPG was 0.005 (CI 95% 0.002 to 0.008) with baPWV; and for PG was 0.002 (CI 95% 0.001 to 0.003) and 0.003 (CI 95% 0.002 to 0.004) with CAVI (p<0.01 in all cases). When analysing by hyperglycaemic status, FPG, PG and HbA1c were positively associated with CAVI and baPWV in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
FPG, PG and HbA1c show a positive association with CAVI and baPWV, in Caucasian adults with intermediate cardiovascular risk factors. When analysing by hyperglycaemic status, the association is only maintained in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01428934. Registered 2 September 2011. Retrospectively registered. Last updated September 8, 2016.
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