title: Neck circumference and early stage atherosclerosis: the cardiometabolic risk in Chinese (CRC) study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neck circumference (NC) has been previously related to cardiometabolic risk factors. In this study we examined the association between NC and early stage atherosclerosis in Chinese adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study samples were from a community-based health examination survey in central China. In total 2,318 men and women (18-64 y) were included in the final analyses. Carotid radial pulse wave velocity (crPWV), carotid femoral PWV (cfPWV), carotid artery dorsalis pedis PWV (cdPWV) and NC were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for age, sex, lipids, glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index (BMI), high NC was significantly associated with an increasing trend of cfPWV, cdPWV and crPWV (P = 0.001, 0.049, and 0.038; respectively). In addition, we found significant interaction between hypertension status and NC level in relation to cfPWV, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, fasting glucose, lipids and heart rate(P for interaction = 0.034). The associations between NC and cfPWV were significant (P = 0.02) among those with hypertension, but not significant among those without hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data showed that high NC was associated with an increased risk of early stage atherosclerosis in Chinese adults, independent of other metabolic risk factors. Hypertension might modify the association between NC and cfPWV.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xuekui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qinqin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000473:pathology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult