Aim: To investigate associations between hemoglobin levels and arterial stiffness accounting for body mass index (BMI) in a large-scale cross-sectional study.
Methods: We investigated the association between hemoglobin levels and atherosclerosis evaluated by cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), which can assess arterial stiffness independently from blood pressure, while taking BMI status into account. Separate models were constructed for participants with or without anemia. In our main investigation for the association between hemoglobin levels and increased arterial stiffness, only participants without anemia (1064 men and 1886 women) were included to avoid the influence of chronic disease.
Results: We found significantly positive associations between increased arterial stiffness and hemoglobin levels for both men and women, and that such associations were limited to subjects with BMI <25 kg/m(2) . The multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% coincidence intervals (CI) of 1-standard deviation increments in hemoglobin levels for increased arterial stiffness were 1.17 (95% CI 1.00-1.38) for men and 1.17 (95% CI1.02-1.34) for women. For participants with BMI <25 kg/m(2) , the corresponding values were 1.40 (95% CI 1.14-1.73) and 1.19 (95% CI 1.02-1.40), and for those with BMI ≥25 kg/m(2) , they were 0.88 (95% CI 0.67-1.15) and 1.12 (95% CI 0.86-1.46).
Conclusions: Independent positive associations between hemoglobin levels and increased arterial stiffness were observed both for Japanese men and women, and those associations were limited to participants with BMI <25 kg/m(2) .
Keywords: arterial stiffness; body mass index; cross-sectional study; hemoglobin.
© 2013 Japan Geriatrics Society.