title: Gender differences in correlations among cardiovascular risk factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the clustering of a few specific cardiovascular risk factors is known as the metabolic syndrome, sex-specific differences in correlations among risk factors have not been thoroughly examined.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The analysis was undertaken to detect gender differences in correlations among cardio-vascular risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Correlations among age, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and serum levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), triglycerides (TG), high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), and uric acid were analyzed in apparently healthy Japanese men and women with TG<400 mg/dL and FBS<126 mg/dL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 136 men and 136 women examined, the frequency of significant correlations was marginally higher in women than in men: 28/45 correlations versus 17/45 correlations, respectively (P=0.017). Of a total of 45 possible correlations, 5 were marginally or significantly stronger in women, whereas no correlations among these risk factors were marginally or significantly stronger in men (P=0.021). These gender differences were considerably attenuated after adjustment for age. However, a significant sex-specific difference was observed in the correlation between TG and rank transformation of CRP, even after adjustment for age (P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Correlations among cardiovascular risk factors were marginally stronger in women than in men. These results suggest that the existence of 1 additional risk factor may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease more steeply in women than in men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Niigata Prefectural Yoshida Hospital, and Division of Cardiology, Hematology, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Japan. ijie@venus.sannet.ne.jp
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Kiminori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Punniyakoti T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Veeraveedu
authors.forename: Yoshifusa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aizawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors