Ankle Blood Pressure and Pulse Pressure as Predictors of Cerebrovascular Morbidity and Mortality in a Prospective Follow-Up Study
Table 1
Baseline characteristics of participants with and without incident cerebrovascular event during the follow-up.
No cerebrovascular event
Cerebrovascular event
Age (years)
50 (10)
57 (10)
0.0001*
Men/women, (%)
2423 (67)/1216 (33)
105 (62)/65 (38)
NS
Body mass index (kg/m2)
26.1 (4)
26.6 (4)
NS
Syst. blood pressure (mmHg)
133 (18)
142 (19)
0.0001*
Diast. blood pressure (mmHg)
85 (11)
89 (10)
0.0001*
Pulse/min
74 (13)
74 (12)
NS
SBP80 (women)
181 (25)
193 (23)
0.001*
SBP150 (men)
201 (27)
212 (30)
0.0001*
SBP Max
203 (28)
205 (29)
NS
Ankle blood pressure (mmHg)
165 (27)
174 (34)
0.0001*
ABI
1.21 (0.2)
1.20 (0.2)
NS
Current smokers, (%)
769 (22)
45 (29)
0.05†
Self-reported abnormal total cholesterol, (%)
1352 (37)
77 (45%)
0.001†
Self-reported abnormal glucose, (%)
273 (8)
20 (12)
0.04†
Pos. family history, (%)
1365 (38)
67 (39)
0.6
METs
7.8 (3)
6.4 (2)
0.0001*
Blood pressure groups
Group I (reference)
2125 (58%)
44 (26%)
Group II
719 (20%)
56 (33%)
Group III
467 (13%)
30 (18%)
Group IV
214 (6%)
14 (8%)
Group V
114 (3%)
26 (15%)
0.0001†
Data are mean (SD) or and proportion (%), *-test, † test. SBP80: systolic blood pressure at the exercise level of 80 Watts. SBP150: systolic blood pressure at the exercise level of 150 Watts. SBPMax: maximum systolic blood pressure during exercise. ABI: ankle brachial index. METs: physical working capacity in metabolic equivalents. Please see Section 2 for the explanation for the blood pressure groups.
