Background: Increased arterial stiffness has been shown to be a good predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and to be associated with an adverse cardiovascular risk profile.
Objective: To evaluate the relationship between adolescent blood pressure and aortic stiffness in 524 healthy young adults aged 27-30 years, as a means of investigating early determinants of arterial stiffness.
Setting: General community.
Participants: We studied 524 healthy young adults, aged 27-30 years, who attended secondary school in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Measurements: Data on adolescent weight, height, blood pressure and stage of puberty were available from the original school health records of the Municipal Health Service. At young adulthood, a questionnaire on cardiovascular risk factors was completed and a fasting blood sample was drawn.
Main outcome measure: Arterial stiffness, assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV).
Results: Adolescent blood pressure did not predict aortic PWV at young adulthood (linear regression coefficient 0.03 m/s per 10 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure; 95% confidence interval 0.09 to 0.14). Repeated analysis in a subgroup (n = 199) for whom two adolescent blood pressure measurements were averaged showed stronger (2-19x) associations with adult PWV, although these were not significant.
Conclusion: Adolescent blood pressure did not predict arterial stiffness in healthy young adults. Measurement error in the baseline blood readings (regression to the mean phenomenon) may partly explain the lack of association in our study. Further studies should confirm our results in order to enable better understanding of the role of adolescent blood pressure in the aetiology of vascular damage.