Age-related annual changes in arterial stiffness in healthy adults: Insights from a large Korean cohort study

Background and aims: Arterial stiffness, a known cardiovascular risk factor, is associated with increasing age and arteriosclerosis. This study examines age-related annual changes in arterial stiffness in a large cohort of healthy individuals without cardiovascular disease, hypertension, or diabetes mellitus. Methods: The study included 195,405 Korean adults aged 30–79 years who attended a health check-up between 2006 and 2019. Arterial stiffness was assessed using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and the final cohort for the baPWV annual change analysis comprised 147,313 participants. Results: The study found that baPWV values increase progressively with age in both sexes, with the most notable changes occurring in the 70–79 age group. The spread in baPWV measurements, as indicated by the interquartile ranges, generally increases with age but was particularly pronounced in women in the 50s and 60s age groups, with men showing a greater spread in the 70–79 age group. The average annual change in baPWV (ΔbaPWV) values increased from 1.48 cm/s (95 % CI: 0.80–2.16) in the 30–39 age group to 23.72 cm/s (95 % CI: 16.25–31.19) in the 70–79 age group in men. Similarly, for women, the average ΔbaPWV values increased from 1.80 cm/s (95 % CI: 0.93–2.68) to 18.51 cm/s (95 % CI: 7.18–29.85) in the 30–39 and 70–79 age groups, respectively. The study observed that arterial stiffness in men consistently increases across all age groups, whereas in women, it does not significantly increase annually before age 50 but shows a steeper rise after this age. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the progressive nature of arterial stiffness with aging in a healthy population. It highlights notable differences in the rate of progression and the distribution of baPWV between men and women, with men exhibiting a greater spread in the oldest age group.