title: Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is a predictor of walking distance in community-dwelling adults.
abstract: Arterial stiffness represents the cumulative effects of cardiovascular risk factors, including aging, on the arterial wall, and has been found to be a surrogate marker of cardiovascular disease. However, it remains unknown whether baseline arterial stiffness is independently associated with improvement in functional abilities after exercise training. The subjects were 72 adults (9 men and 63 women) aged 67 ± 7 years from a rural village. Before and at the end of a 12-week Nordic walking program, 6-min walk distance (6MWD) as functional abilities, metabolic characteristics, and the mean of the right and left brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) as a marker of arterial stiffness were measured. Higher baseline mean baPWV levels correlated significantly with shorter baseline 6MWD (P < 0.001), and also with the follow-up 6MWD (P < 0.001) and change rate (P = 0.019) in 6MWD after the 12-week training program. Multivariate linear regression analysis was employed to evaluate the contribution of baseline mean baPWV for 6MWD parameters showing that baseline mean baPWV values were significantly and independently associated with follow-up 6MWD (β = -0.523, P < 0.001) and change rate in 6MWD (β = -0.399, P < 0.001) as well as baseline 6MWD (β = -0.522, P < 0.001), but was not associated with change after the 12-week training program. Higher baPWV, a measurement of arterial stiffness, might be a predictor of functional abilities after exercise training, independent of confounding factors, in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, 791-0295, Japan, rykawamo@m.ehime-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kohara
authors.forename: Tateaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: Tomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusunoki
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Teru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kumagi
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D016138:Walking