High pulse pressure as a marker of preclinical cardiovascular disease

Relationship of widowhood with pulse pressure, fasting blood glucose, and mental health in older adults: a propensity matching score analysis

Background

Transitioning from marriage to widowhood presents inevitable and significant challenges for many older adults. This study explored the impact of widowhood on a range of mental health outcomes, including pulse pressure and fasting blood glucose levels, among older adults in nursing homes.

Methods

This cross-sectional study utilized cluster random sampling to recruit participants, with data analyzed from 388 older Chinese adults. Psychosocial traits were assessed using the Perceived Social Support from Family scale (PSS-Fa) for family support, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) for anxiety symptoms, and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for confounding factors. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between widowhood, mental health outcomes, pulse pressure, and fasting blood glucose levels.

Results

After applying PSM, the sample size was refined to 268 (N = 134 for both married and widowed groups) from the initial 388, excluding 120 unmatched cases. Widowed older adults were found to have notably lower family support (β = -0.81, p = 0.002), increased depressive symptoms (β = 1.04, p = 0.043), elevated pulse pressure (β = 8.90, p < 0.001), and higher fasting blood glucose levels (β = 3.22, p = 0.027). These associations exhibited greater beta values compared to pre-matching analysis.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed that widowed participants had reduced family support, an increased risk of depressive symptoms, heightened pulse pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose in comparison to their married counterparts. Interventions focusing on social support, mental health, and cardiovascular well-being could be advantageous for this at-risk group.

The relations of abnormal pulse pressure to the cardiovascular risk factors and the cardiac function in adults from Hebei, Zhejiang, and Guangxi province of China

To explore the correlations of abnormal pulse pressure (PP) with the cardiovascular risk factors and cardiac functions by analyzing the distributions of abnormal PP in Han adults aged 18-74 years in Hebei, Zhejiang, and Guangxi province to provide evidence for health management. A cross-sectional study was carried out in three provinces of China. Multi-phase, stratified, unequal proportional and cluster sampling was adopted to investigate the data obtained from 12,795 Han adults aged 18-74 years. The prevalence of cases with abnormal PP in the three provinces was 6.7 %. Abnormal PP was significantly associated with a number of cardiovascular risk factors including location, age, gender, and education (P < 0.05). Results from multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that abnormal PP was positively associated with age and BMI. Compared with the normal subjects, there was a statistically significant difference in the mean of high-normal blood pressure, IFG divided by gender and LCW (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the mean of high-normal TC, TG, and LDL-C and low-normal HDL-C (P > 0.05). Age has also been found to be a statistically significant factor (P < 0.05). Abnormal PP was common in Chinese Han adults aged 18-74 years, which was independently associated with cardiovascular risk factors and cardiac functions. Health management for Han adults with abnormal PP was strongly suggested.

The relationship of a family history for hypertension, myocardial infarction, or stroke with cardiovascular physiology in young women

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and preeclampsia share several pathophysiologic risk factors. We examined family history (FH) and physiologic status in 60 healthy, nulliparous women to determine the relationship between FH and known risk factors for CVD. Data are presented as mean ± standard error (SE). Decreased uterine blood flow was observed in women with FH of hypertension (+FH: 21.5 ± 1.7, no FH: 33.3 ± 9.0 mL/min; P = .04). Women reporting an FH of stroke showed increased alpha- and beta-adrenergic response, as measured by Valsalva maneuver (α: FH: 24.7 ± 1.9, -FH: 18.9 ± 1.1 mm Hg, P = .02; β: FH: 22.0 ± 2.1, -FH: 16.9 ± 1.4 mm Hg; P = .04), and increased cardiac output (4.83 ± 0.22 vs 4.31 ± 0.12 L/min; P = .01). We identified no significant physiologic associations linked to an FH of myocardial infarction. Our observations show significant differences in physiologic characteristics in women with specific CVD family histories. These data, coupled with known heritable contributions to CVD and preeclampsia, suggest a distinct physiologic phenotype that may link preeclampsia risk with FH of CVD, independent of pregnancy.