Association between postural changes of blood pressure and carotid atherosclerosis in the elderly / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate association between postural changes of blood pressure and carotid atherosclerosis in the elderly.Methods Standardized questionnaires,physical examination and biochemical blood tests were performed to acquire clinical characteristics of the participants.Presences of carotid plaques were identified by carotid ultrasound examination.Orthostatic hypotension (OH) and orthostatic hypertension (OHT) were defined according to the international consensus.Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the associations of carotid plaques with OH and OHT.Results 377 old people were finally included,of which 101 had OH and 33 had OHT.After full adjustment for possible confounders,old people with carotid plaques had significantly increased risk for OH as compared with those without carotid plaques (OR=2.27,95％ CI:1.32-3.90,P=0.003).Participants with bilateral carotid plaques were associated with significantly increased risk for OH (OR=3.45,95％CI:1.74 6.84,P=0.001),while the association between unilateral carotid plaques and OH was not significant (OR=1.71,95％ CI:0.88-3.32,P=0.112).No significant association was identified between carotid plaques (bilateral or unilateral) and OHT.Conclusions Presence of carotid plaques,particularly bilateral plaques,may be an independent risk factor for OH.