Background Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death worldwide. In this setting, Neck Circumference (NC) and Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) are simple and valuable tools for an early evaluation of cardiovascular risk through the assessment of upper body obesity and arterial stiffness. However, the associations between both measurements have not been systematically explored. Methods A population-based cross-sectional study representative of a neighborhood of Salvador-BA, Brazil. Data were collected between December 2016 and May 2019, and comprise 130 individuals for the present study. Variables such as age, sex, education levels and NC were analyzed to verify their associations with PWV status. Correlations between PWV and NC were performed to further depict their association. Results There was a predominance of patients with elevated PWV. The subgroup of patients aged 60 years or older presented the largest proportion of PWV alterations over normal results. There was a majority of women in the study population and sex could not determine PWV status. There was a predominance of concomitant elevation of NC and PWV in the studied population. NC measurements could distinguish PWV status from women and the study population. NC and PWV had a positive and statistically significant correlation for women and for the general population. Conclusion These findings suggest a possible association between upper body obesity and vascular homeostasis impairment. Therefore, screening patients with both measurements could prove relevant to better identify subclinical vascular perturbations and further delimitate prognosis related to cardiovascular events potentially associated with them.

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Background: Arterial Hypertension (AH) is an uncertain and complex physiopathological disease with the Arterial Stiffness (AS) as one of the main cardiovascular alterations. Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) is the gold standard marker for assessment of the vascular aging and an important predictor of cardiovascular risk. Methods: Cross-sectional population-based studies, in the restricted area of Vale do Ogunjá, Salvador-Bahia. Sociodemographic data, through questionnaire and clinical data were obtained. A PWV was evaluated by applanation tonometry using the device SphygmoCor® (AtCor Medical Pty Ltd, New South Wales, Australia). Frequency and descriptive measurements of central and dispersion were obtained, and the Chi-square test to statistical analysis. Results: PWV presented a higher mean in hypertensive patients (10.0 ± 2.2 m/s). There was a higher prevalence of AS in male individuals with advanced age and presence of risk factors. The prevalence ratio of AS was 3.7 times higher in hypertensive patients (p = 0.002; 95% CI: 1.6-8.5) and 7.5 times higher in patients aged above 40-74 years (p = 0.015; 95% CI: 2.4-23.1). Conclusion: There was an important relation between AS and increased of PWV in the presence of hypertension. The relevance of this study is associated with the use of non-invasive clinical evaluation of PWV, contributing to improve morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Brazil. The pulse wave velocity (PWV) is an independent cardiovascular risk factor detecting arterial stiffness, correlated to age, among other variables. Objective: Analyze age (i) and PWV correlation on individuals aged ≥ 18 years. Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory study on a representative population of a community in Salvador-Bahia-Brazil. The data were obtained from a simple random sample, including 301 individuals, over 12 census sectors. 95 individuals of both sexes were initially assessed, from November 2016 to February 2018. Home visits were carried out to fi ll out individual and home records and to schedule examinations, including PWV measurement, in an outpatient clinic. The carotid-femoral PWV was measured as the velocity between the carotid and femoral wave coupled to the electrocardiogram, considering the beat-to-beat pulse wave base, adjusted for a .8 ratio. Femoral carotid length is measured in millimeters. An AT Cor SphygmoCor applanation tonometer was used. Central and dispersion trend measures were analyzed and stratifi ed by sex, age and PWV. Frequency and descriptive measures, Spearman's linear correlation coeffi cient between PWV and age and Prevalence Ratio per sex were obtained with the respective confi dence intervals, estimated as a function of the Odds Ratio. STATA v.12 software was used. The level of statistical signifi cance was 5%. The standards of the human research ethics board were observed. Results: There was a prevalence of women (65.3%); mean PWV was higher among men (9.5±2.5) compared to women (8.9±2.5); 68.7% of women and 31.3% of men presented normal PWV values. Statistically signifi cant trends (ES) of PWV mean gradient increase over age groups (p = 0.000) were found. There are no changes in the mean value of PWV among participants that are less than 30 years old. The prevalence of adjusted abnormal PWV was 29.5%, 36.4% among males and 25.8% among females. The chance of women, when compared to men, to present PWV abnormality was 1.64 times (95% CI: 0.66-4.07). There was a positive and statistically signifi cant moderate correlation between adjusted PWV values and age (r=0.54, p=0.0000). The correlation was moderate and statistically signifi cant among women (r=0.63, p=0.0000), weak positive and statistically signifi cant among men (r=0.41, p=0.0167). Conclusion: The correlation between PWV and age progression in both sexes was verifi ed, with higher correlations found for women.