title: Reproducibility of oscillometrically measured arterial stiffness indices: Results of the SAPALDIA 3 cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is an increasing interest in oscillometric arterial stiffness measurement for cardiovascular risk stratification. We assessed reproducibility of the cuff-based arterial stiffness measures cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and peripheral augmentation index (pAI) in a subsample of the second follow-up of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA 3).
  
  
  METHODS
  CAVI, baPWV and pAI were measured twice within 90 days in a representative subsample (n = 105) of SAPALDIA 3 with a mean age of 63 years (52.4% female).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean coefficient of variation for CAVI was 4.4%, baPWV 3.9%, and pAI 7.4%. The intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.6 for pAI to 0.8 for CAVI, and 0.9 for baPWV. The mixed linear model revealed that 68.7%/80.1%/55.0% of the CAVI/baPWV/pAI variance was accounted for by the subject, 5.2%/8.1%/ < 0.01% by the fieldworker, 6.7%/7.8%/28.5% by variation between measurement days, and 19.4%/4%/16.5% by measurement error. Bland-Altman plots showed no particular dispersion patterns except for pAI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oscillometric arterial stiffness measurement by CAVI and baPWV has proved to be highly reproducible in Caucasians. Results of the pAI showed lower reproducibility. CAVI and baPWV can be implemented as easy-to-apply arterial stiffness measures in population wide cardiovascular risk assessment in Caucasians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, Div. Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Basel , Basel , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Endes
authors.forename: Seraina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caviezel
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dratva
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schaffner
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rothe
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rochat
authors.forename: Nino
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Künzli
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Probst-Hensch
authors.forename: Arno
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Trucksäss
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D062186:Arterial Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013557:Switzerland; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; oscillometry; pulse wave analysis; reproducibility; vascular stiffness