Hypertension, menopause, and coronary artery disease risk in the Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated whether the relationship between hypertension, other cardiac risk factors, and coronary artery disease (CAD) is modulated by menopausal status and/or age.


BACKGROUND
The relative contribution of age versus menopausal status in the development of CAD in women remains unclear.


METHODS
We compared systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), and traditional cardiac risk factors for CAD in premenopausal (n = 123) and postmenopausal (n = 482) women undergoing coronary angiography for suspected ischemia. To assess the relative contribution of age versus menopausal status, we fit a hypertension-menopausal status interaction term and adjusted for age.


RESULTS
There were similar relationships with regard to traditional coronary risk factors and angiographic CAD in premenopausal versus postmenopausal women, with few exceptions. Twenty percent of premenopausal women had angiographic CAD versus 31% of postmenopausal women (p = 0.02). Premenopausal women had lower mean (standard deviation) SBP (132 [25] vs. 139 [20] mm Hg; p < 0.0001) and lower PP (54 [18] vs. 62 [18] mm Hg; p < 0.0001) compared to postmenopausal women; however, multivariable analyses revealed that SBP was a risk factor for CAD in premenopausal (p = 0.002) but not postmenopausal women (p = 0.13), and regression slopes were significantly different (p = 0.04). This interaction effect remained after age adjustment, suggesting independent risk contribution from both age and menopausal status. A similar slope difference was observed for PP (p = 0.03) but not for DBP.


CONCLUSIONS
Among women undergoing angiography for suspected ischemia, elevated SBP and PP are potent risk factors in premenopausal women. The results suggest that identification of hypertension in premenopausal women dictates additional CAD risk factor assessment and management.
Gierach
Gretchen L
GL
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.
Johnson
B Delia
BD
Bairey Merz
C Noel
CN
Kelsey
Sheryl F
SF
Bittner
Vera
V
Olson
Marian B
MB
Shaw
Leslee J
LJ
Mankad
Sunil
S
Pepine
Carl J
CJ
Reis
Steven E
SE
Rogers
William J
WJ
Sharaf
Barry L
BL
Sopko
George
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors