Song-Hee Doo, Hee-Jung Choi, Sang-bong Park, Dong Jung, Ye-Na Shim, Han-Jin Oh

Department of Family Medicine, Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea


Background: Early detection of vascular change may improve prediction of subclinical stage of cardiovascular disease, allowing intervention to prevent overt vascular damage. High heart rate is known to increase car- diovascular morbidity and mortality rate in the general population and in individuals with cardiovascular disease. We aimed to investigate the association between resting heart rate (RHR) measured using electro- cardiogram (ECG) and arterial stiffness measured using the cardio- ankle vascular index (CAVI) in men.
Methods: Data were collected from 5,629 men aged between 20 and 78 years who visited a single-site health promotion center. RHR was measured in a supine posture after resting for 10 minutes using an ECG. Arterial stiffness was measured using the CAVI. The cutoff value for high CAVI was ≥ 9.0.
Results: RHR was one of the major determinants of high CAVI after adjusting for age, waist circumference, mean arterial pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin level, triglyceride level, white blood cell count, and lifestyle factors. When RHR groups were defined according to the RHR quartiles, the odds ratio of group with RHR ≥ 70 bpm, for high CAVI was 3.62 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.21- 5.91) after adjusting for age and lifestyle factors. This association was not changed after adjusting for all other covariates (odds ratio, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.36-4.19).
Conclusions: RHR measured using ECG is significantly associated with arterial stiffness in men not taking med- ications for hypertension, dyslipidemia, or diabetes. These findings suggest that RHR may be useful in assess- ing cardiovascular risk in men.
Korean J Health Promot 2019;19(3):121-127

Keywords: Arteriosclerosis, Heart rate, Vascular stiffness, Risk assessment