Exposure to cardiovascular risk factors during childhood and adolescence may be associated with the development of atherosclerosis later in life.
To study the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors measured in childhood and adolescence and common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of preclinical atherosclerosis, measured in adulthood.
Population-based, prospective cohort study conducted at 5 centers in Finland among 2229 white adults aged 24 to 39 years who were examined in childhood and adolescence at ages 3 to 18 years in 1980 and reexamined 21 years later, between September 2001 and January 2002.
Association between cardiovascular risk variables (levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], and triglycerides; LDL-C/HDL-C ratio; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; body mass index; smoking) measured in childhood and adulthood and common carotid artery IMT measured in adulthood.
In multivariable models adjusted for age and sex, IMT in adulthood was significantly associated with childhood LDL-C levels (P =.001), systolic blood pressure (P
Notes
Comment In: JAMA. 2003 Nov 5;290(17):2320-214600192