Predictive value of brachial-ankle artery pulse wave velocity in assessing progress of blood pressure in young adults

Objective To investigate the predictive value of brachial-ankle artery pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in assessing blood pressure progress in young adults. Methods A total of 100 patients who met inclusion criteria were selected from First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. The 100 patients underwent physical examination and baPWV monitoring during October 2014 to October 2016 for the first time, and finished the second physical examination and baPWV monitoring between December 2017 to December 2018. The first physical examination data and baPWV data were set as baseline indicators, and the clinical data of the second time as observation indicators. The correlation between baPWV and progress of blood pressure in young adults was studied and analyzed. Results In comparison between observation indicators and baseline indicators, there were statistical differences in age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, baPWV, diabetes mellitus and arteriosclerosis (P 0.05). The baPWV was linearly correlated with baseline blood pressure, blood pressure in observation indicators and blood pressure progress. For every 1 m/s increase of baPWV, the baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressures increased by 2.970 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) and 0.881 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), the systolic and diastolic blood pressures in observation indicators increased by 2.640 mmHg and 0.597 mmHg, respectively, and the changes of systolic and diastolic blood pressures of baseline indicators and observation indicators increased by 1.542 mmHg and 0.433 mmHg, respectively. Conclusions Dynamic monitoring of baPWV can predict the progression of arteriosclerosis and the change of blood pressure. Key words: Brachial-ankle artery pulse wave velocity; Young adults; Blood pressure