TY - JOUR
T1 - Race, psychosocial factors, and aortic pulse wave velocity
T2 - The health, aging, and body composition study
AU - Lewis, Tené T.
AU - Sutton-Tyrrell, Kim
AU - Penninx, Brenda W.
AU - Vogelzangs, Nicole
AU - Harris, Tamara B.
AU - Vaidean, Georgeta D.
AU - Ayonayon, Hilsa N.
AU - Kim, Lauren
AU - Lakatta, Edward G.
AU - Newman, Anne B.
N1 - Funding Information:
The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (N01-AG-6-2101, N01-AG-6-2103, and N01-AG-6-2106 T.T.L. received additional support from a Visiting Scholar Award funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities and a Career Development Award funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL092591). This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging.
PY - 2010/10
Y1 - 2010/10
N2 - Background.Increasingly, researchers have begun to explore pathways through which psychosocial factors might influence cardiovascular disease, with some emphasis on early markers. The current study examined the cross-sectional association between psychosocial factors and aortic pulse wave velocity (an early marker of cardiovascular disease) in a biracial cohort of older adults. We were particularly interested in determining whether the association between psychosocial factors and aortic pulse wave velocity differed for older blacks compared with whites.Methods.Participants were 2,488 (40% black and 52% female) older adults from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. Carotid-femoral aortic pulse wave velocity was assessed using standard methodologies. Depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, negative life events, and inadequate emotional support were assessed, and a summary psychosocial risk index was created.Results.In multivariable linear regression models, psychosocial risk was not associated with aortic pulse wave velocity (Estimate [Est] =. 00, p =. 83), but there was a significant Race × Psychosocial risk interaction (Est =. 07, p =. 01), after adjusting for age, race, sex, and education. Further analyses revealed that this association was driven by the inadequate emotional support component of psychosocial risk (Race × Inadequate emotional support, p =. 005). In race-stratified analyses, inadequate emotional support was associated with higher levels of arterial stiffness in older blacks (Est =. 05, p =. 04) but not whites (Est = -.04, p =. 13). This association persisted after adjusting for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, and social network characteristics.Conclusions.Findings suggest that older blacks may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of inadequate emotional support on vascular health. Interventions aimed at increasing social support among this population might be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular disease risk.
AB - Background.Increasingly, researchers have begun to explore pathways through which psychosocial factors might influence cardiovascular disease, with some emphasis on early markers. The current study examined the cross-sectional association between psychosocial factors and aortic pulse wave velocity (an early marker of cardiovascular disease) in a biracial cohort of older adults. We were particularly interested in determining whether the association between psychosocial factors and aortic pulse wave velocity differed for older blacks compared with whites.Methods.Participants were 2,488 (40% black and 52% female) older adults from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. Carotid-femoral aortic pulse wave velocity was assessed using standard methodologies. Depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, negative life events, and inadequate emotional support were assessed, and a summary psychosocial risk index was created.Results.In multivariable linear regression models, psychosocial risk was not associated with aortic pulse wave velocity (Estimate [Est] =. 00, p =. 83), but there was a significant Race × Psychosocial risk interaction (Est =. 07, p =. 01), after adjusting for age, race, sex, and education. Further analyses revealed that this association was driven by the inadequate emotional support component of psychosocial risk (Race × Inadequate emotional support, p =. 005). In race-stratified analyses, inadequate emotional support was associated with higher levels of arterial stiffness in older blacks (Est =. 05, p =. 04) but not whites (Est = -.04, p =. 13). This association persisted after adjusting for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, and social network characteristics.Conclusions.Findings suggest that older blacks may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of inadequate emotional support on vascular health. Interventions aimed at increasing social support among this population might be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular disease risk.
KW - African-Americans
KW - Arterial stiffness
KW - Cardiovascular disease
KW - Psychosocial
KW - Social support
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U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glq089
DO - 10.1093/gerona/glq089
M3 - Article
C2 - 20522528
AN - SCOPUS:77956913976
VL - 65 A
SP - 1079
EP - 1085
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
SN - 1079-5006
IS - 10
ER -