title: Associations of Cardiovascular Risk Factors with Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Middle-Age Adults and Elders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Elevated carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is a preclinical phenotype of atherosclerotic diseases. There are significant sex differences in the morbidities of cardiovascular diseases and their major determinants, and we explored the sex-specific effects of cardiovascular factors on cIMT by a community-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured the cIMT and cardiovascular profiles of 1579 residents aged 40-74 years in northern Taiwan. Multivariate regression analyses were used to assess the effects and contributions of these factors on cIMT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Males had significantly higher mean (±SD) of cIMT than females (0.668±0.113 vs. 0.632± 0.100 nm, p＜0.0001). The common factors of the best-fit regression models in both sexes were age, BMI, and LDL-/HDL-C ratio; however, their contributions and effects were different. The partial coefficients of determination (r2) were 17.9, 5.8, and 4.1%, respectively, for males and were 27.8, 1.4, and 1.2%, respectively, for females. Test statistics showed that the regression coefficients of BMI and LDL-/HDL-C ratio of males were significantly higher than those of females. As compared with females, per 1.0 SD increases of BMI and LDL-/HDL-C in males resulted in 0.0971 (p=0.030) and 0.1177 (p=0.0087), respectively, SD increases in cIMT. There was no difference in the means of cIMT between pre- and post-menopausal women of the same age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant sex difference in cIMT. The contributions and effects of LDL-/HDL-C ratio and BMI on cIMT were more profound in males. Our findings indicate that sex-specific factors, but possibly not menstrual status-related factors, contribute to thicker cIMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College.
authors.forename: Tzu-Wei
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Mackay Medical College.
authors.forename: Chung-Lieh
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Mackay Medical College.
authors.forename: Chun-Chieh
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College.|Section of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Mackay Medical College.|Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Mackay Medical College.
authors.forename: Yih-Jer
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College.|Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Mackay Medical College.
authors.forename: Li-Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College.|Section of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Mackay Medical College.|Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Mackay Medical College.
authors.forename: Hung-I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Age; Cardiovascular risk factors; Carotid intima-media thickness; Community-based study; Sex difference