Vascular age in a sample of general population of the sanitary area of Toledo (Spain). RICARTO study

Objective: To know the vascular age (VA) of a sample of general population included in the RICARTO study.

Patients and method: Epidemiological study of the general population aged ≥18 from the Health Area of Toledo, based on the health card database. VA was calculated from the absolute cardiovascular risk (CVR) estimated with the Framingham and SCORE equations (type2 diabetes increased CVR in SCORE 2-fold in men and 4-fold in women). Patients with cardiovascular or renal disease were excluded. An ANCOVA analysis was conducted to adjust and compare the mean of VA by age and sex.

Results: 1,496 subjects (53.54% women) were analyzed. Mean (SD) age was 48.77 (14.89) years old and. Mean VA was 51.37 (19.13) with Framingham equation and 57.09 (17.63) years old with SCORE equation. VA was significantly higher in men, low education level, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes mellitus, abdominal obesity, general obesity, smoking and in individuals with 5CVR factors vs none (P<.001 in all). Higher differences (Cohen's D >0.5) were found in non-diabetic vs diabetic people (1.58 Framingham; 2.44 SCORE), normotensive vs hypertensive subjects (1.64 Framingham; 1.19 SCORE), and non-dyslipidemia vs presence of dyslipidemia (0.95 Framingham; 0.66 SCORE).

Conclusions: VA of our sample is two and a half years older than chronological one with Framingham equation and more than eight years with SCORE equation. Control of CVR factors is the key to get a VA closer to real and to obtain a better cardiovascular health in the population.