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(Circulation. 1996;93:60-66.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.
Articles |
From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Ill (K.L., K.J.R.); the Hypertension Center, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (J.M.F.); the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (R.J.-W.); the Department of Public Health Sciences, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC (G.B.); the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md (P.J.S.); and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California at San Francisco (S.B.H.).
Correspondence to Kiang Liu, PhD, Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, 680 N Lake Shore Dr, Suite 1102, Chicago, IL 60611.
| Abstract |
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Methods and Results The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study is an ongoing collaborative investigation of lifestyle and the evolution of cardiovascular disease risk factors in a random sample of young adults ages 18 to 30 years at baseline (1985 to 1986). Data from four examinations over 7 years were analyzed with the use of a method that simultaneously examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships of lifestyle factors and blood pressure. This study included 1154 black women, 853 black men, 1126 white women, and 1013 white men. Blacks had higher systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure than whites at every examination. Racial differences were much greater in women than in men and increased over time. Within each sex-race group, average diastolic blood pressure over four examinations was positively associated with baseline age, body mass index, and alcohol intake and negatively associated with physical activity, cigarette use, and intake of potassium and protein. Longitudinal change in diastolic blood pressure was positively associated with changes in body mass index and alcohol intake. After adjustment for obesity and other lifestyle factors, black-white diastolic blood pressure differences were reduced substantially: 21% to 75% for men and 49% to 129% for women. Results for systolic blood pressure were similar.
Conclusions Differences in obesity and other lifestyle factors in young adults largely explain the higher baseline blood pressure and greater increase over time of blacks relative to whites.
Key Words: blood pressure lifestyle obesity race
| Introduction |
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160 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure [DBP]
95
mm Hg and/or taking antihypertensive medication) in persons aged 55 to
64 years were 60% and 46% for black women and men and 34% and 31%
for white women and men, respectively.3 However, for
children and adolescents, the results are
inconsistent.6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
One plausible hypothesis is
that during young adulthood, obesity, various aspects of lifestyle, and
psychosocial characteristics may differ between blacks and whites
and subsequently contribute to evolving racial patterns of blood
pressure. This study presents an examination of this hypothesis
using 7-year follow-up data from the CARDIA study. Specifically,
data were analyzed for the following purposes: (1) to describe
the black-white differences in 7-year blood pressure change in
young adults, (2) to determine factors that are associated with blood
pressure change over time, and (3) to examine the degree to which the
observed black-white differences in blood pressure change among
young adults can be explained by the differences in these factors. | Methods |
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All measurements were taken by trained and certified technicians according to the CARDIA manual of operations. Before each examination, participants were asked to fast for 12 hours and to avoid smoking and heavy physical activity for 2 hours. After a 5-minute rest in a quiet room, three systolic and fifth-phase diastolic blood pressures were measured at 1-minute intervals on the participant's right arm with the use of a random zero sphygmomanometer. The average of the second and the third blood pressure measurements was used in the analyses. Height and weight were measured with the participant wearing light clothing and no shoes. Height was recorded to the nearest 0.5 cm and weight to the nearest 0.2 lb. BMI was calculated as weight (kg) divided by height squared (m2). Age at baseline was computed from the reported birth date. Sex, race, years of education, and number of cigarettes smoked per day were self-reported. Alcohol intake (mL/d) was computed from the self-reported frequency of beer, wine, and liquor consumed per week.16 Physical activity score was derived from the CARDIA Physical Activity History, a modified version of the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire.17 A hostility score was calculated as the sum of the `hostile' responses on the 50-item Cook-Medley subscale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).18 Dietary protein (% kcal), calcium (mg/1000 kcal), and potassium (mg/1000 kcal) were derived from the baseline and year 7 CARDIA dietary history, an interviewer-administered quantitative food frequency questionnaire.19 These variables, reflecting aspects of overweight, lifestyle, and psychosocial characteristics, were selected because they have been reported to be associated with blood pressure.15 16 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Quality of the data collection was monitored by the Coordinating Center and the CARDIA Quality Control Committee throughout the four examination periods. A more detailed description of the methods was published in the CARDIA baseline monograph.33
The longitudinal analyses were based on the Generalized Estimating Equation method developed by Liang and Zeger.34 35 This method simultaneously examines the cross-sectional relationship between each of the independent variables and blood pressure and the relationship between changes in these variables and changes in blood pressure. For each sex-race group, a typical model is
![]() |
where for t=0, 2, 5, 7, Yit is the SBP for the ith
person at year t; Ui is a time-independent covariate
(baseline age); Xit is a time-dependent covariate for
the ith person at time t (for example, for t=0, 2, 5, 7,
Xit=1 if the ith person is on antihypertensive medication,
and Xit=0 otherwise); Zi0 is the
baseline value of a time-dependent covariate (baseline weight),
Zit=Zit-Zi0
(that is, the change in weight between year t and baseline for the ith
person), and eit is the error term.
The coefficient ß1 measures the average annual change in SBP adjusting for the covariates. The coefficient ß2 measures the association between the SBP (averaged over time) and baseline age adjusting for other covariates. The coefficient ß3 measures the average difference in SBP between those who are on antihypertensive medication and those who are not on medication. Similarly, the coefficient ß4 measures the relationship between the average SBP and baseline weight adjusting for other covariates. The coefficient ß5 measures the relationship between changes in weight and changes in SBP over time.
Within each sex group, in addition to the race-specific model, one can use three dummy variables to separate the four time points and one dummy variable to separate the two race groups. The three cross-product terms between the variables for time and race provide the different racial patterns of changes in SBP over time.
| Results |
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Black-White Difference in Blood Pressure Over Time
Fig
1
presents the black-white difference
in blood pressure over time for men and women. For three of four sex
and race groups, the average DBP decreased somewhat at year 2 and then
increased at years 5 and 7. The decreases at year 2 were presumably due
to the adaptation effect. For men, the black-white differences in
average DBP were -0.2, 1.4, 1.9, and 1.6 mm Hg at baseline, year
2, year 5, and year 7, respectively. For women, the black-white
differences increased from 1.1 mm Hg at baseline to 2.0 mm Hg at year
2, 4.1 mm Hg at year 5, and 4.6 mm Hg at year 7. For black men, white
men, and white women, the average SBP continued to decrease even at
year 5 and then increased at year 7 (Fig 1
). For black women,
the
average SBP decreased at year 2 and then increased at years 5 and 7.
Similar to DBP, the black-white difference in SBP increased over
time. For men, the difference increased from 1.6 mm Hg at baseline to
3.8 mm Hg at year 7. For women, the difference increased from 3.4 to
6.6 mm Hg.
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Factors Associated With Blood Pressure and Changes in Blood
Pressure
Table 2
presents the results of the
longitudinal analyses for DBP. Each sex-race group was
analyzed separately; each column represents a separate
analysis. Within each sex-race group, the three types of
variables (baseline, time-dependent, and change) were included
simultaneously in the same model. The estimated coefficient
between a baseline variable and blood pressure can be viewed as the
difference in DBP averaged over 7 years corresponding to per unit
difference in this variable after adjusting for the longitudinal
relationship. Baseline age and BMI were significantly positively
associated and baseline cigarette smoking was significantly negatively
associated with DBP in all sex-race groups. Baseline alcohol intake
was positively associated with DBP in all groups; however, the
relationship was significant in black men only. Baseline physical
activity score was significantly negatively related to DBP in men but
not in women. Baseline potassium intake was significantly negatively
associated with DBP in white women. No consistent associations
were observed between baseline education, hostility score, calcium
intake, or protein intake and DBP.
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The coefficient of time reflects the
average change in DBP per year
(Table 2
). For blacks, the positive coefficient indicates that
on
average DBP increased slightly over the 7-year period. For whites,
average DBP decreased slightly over this period. Antihypertensive drug
treatment was a time-dependent variable. The coefficient
measures the average difference in DBP between persons with treatment
and persons without treatment (including normotensive) at the four time
points. The results indicate that except for white women, persons on
antihypertensive drug treatment had significantly higher DBP than
persons not on treatment. Thus, for hypertensive subjects on treatment,
blood pressure was not normalized to a level similar to that of
normotensive subjects.
Change in BMI was significantly related to
change in DBP in every
sex-race group (Table 2
). Change in alcohol intake was
significantly positively associated with change in DBP in white men and
women and black women. On the other hand, changes in the number of
cigarettes smoked per day and physical activity score were not
associated with change in DBP. Since the dietary variables and
hostility score were not collected at every examination, the
longitudinal associations could not be determined. However, in a
separate analysis to assess the relationships between 7-year
changes in potassium, protein, or calcium intake and changes in DBP or
SBP, none of the correlations was statistically significant (data not
shown).
For most variables, the associations with SBP were generally
similar to those with DBP (Table 3
). The only
exceptions were that the baseline number of cigarettes smoked per day
was unrelated to SBP, the baseline hostility score was inversely
associated with average SBP in white men and women, and age was related
to average SBP in black women only.
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Impact of Obesity and Lifestyle Factors on Black-White Differences
in Blood Pressure
With adjustment for baseline age, antihypertensive
treatment
status, obesity, and lifestyle factors listed in Tables 2
and
3
,
black-white differences in DBP were reduced for both men and women
as compared with the differences in DBP adjusting for baseline age and
antihypertensive treatment status only (Figs 2
and
3
). For men, the black-white differences in DBP were
reduced from 0.4 to 0.1 mm Hg (-75%) at baseline, 1.9 to 1.5
(-21%) at year 2, 2.3 to 1.6 (-30%) at year 5, and 2.0 to
1.2 (-40%) at year 7. For women, the reductions were from 1.4 to
-0.4 mm Hg (-129%) at baseline, 2.4 to 0.3 (-88%)
at year 2, 4.3 to 1.9 (-56%) at year 5, and 4.9 to 2.5
(-49%) at year 7 (Fig 3
). Thus, 49% of the observed
black-white difference in DBP at year 7 in women and 40% in men
were explained statistically by black-white differences in obesity
and lifestyle factors. Similar results also were observed for SBP (data
not shown).
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These data were further analyzed with additional adjustment for center. Even though the average blood pressure differed among the four centers, adjusting for center did not change the results for the black-white differences (data not shown).
| Discussion |
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Patterns of Black-White Differences in Blood Pressure
Previous
studies on the difference in black-white blood
pressure levels suggest that the pattern varies with age. Reported
differences are inconsistent among children and
adolescents.6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
However, studies on middle-aged
adults have clearly indicated that blacks have a higher average blood
pressure and prevalence of hypertension than
whites.1 2 3 4 5
Previous reports of the CARDIA baseline cross-sectional data
suggest that the average blood pressure levels of blacks and whites
start to diverge during young adulthood and that the difference
increases with age.15 This report presents the
longitudinal data to confirm that there were, at most, very small
differences in blood pressure when participants were young. The
differences increased over time as participants aged. Given that
approximately 45% of the black-white differences in blood pressure
at year 7 were explained by major environmental factors, these results
suggest that black-white differences in obesity and lifestyle
factors during young adulthood impact on the divergence of blood
pressure over time.
Factors Related to Blood Pressure
Consistent with results
from other studies, BMI was
significantly associated with average DBP in every sex-race
group20 ; in addition, BMI change was strongly associated
with DBP change in every sex-race group, an association that was
stronger in whites than in blacks. For example, for an increase in BMI
for one unit, the average change in DBP was 0.5 mm Hg for black men,
0.3 mm Hg for black women, 1.0 mm Hg for white men, and 0.6 mm Hg
for white women. These results suggest that for prevention of the
age-related rise in blood pressure, and ultimately of hypertension,
it is important to prevent weight gain in young adulthood while blood
pressure levels are still mostly in the normal range and participants
are not yet significantly obese.
Alcohol consumption has been shown by many studies to be a risk factor for hypertension.16 21 22 In CARDIA, the baseline alcohol intake was only weakly associated with the average blood pressure during young adulthood. However, the longitudinal findings indicated that for young adults, blood pressure increased (or decreased) as alcohol intake increased (or decreased). This suggests that alcohol intake should be minimized, among other reasons, for prevention of hypertension.
An inverse cross-sectional relationship between cigarette smoking and blood pressure independent of weight or BMI has been reported by many studies.23 24 In general, smokers tend to be leaner. It is possible that the effect of obesity on blood pressure is not completely removed by statistical adjustment for weight or BMI. It has also been hypothesized that the inverse relationship may be explained by depressor effects of cotinine.23 The results in CARDIA confirmed the cross-sectional relationship between cigarette smoking and blood pressure; however, longitudinally, there was no relationship between changes in the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the changes in blood pressure. Even if smoking does lower blood pressure slightly, it should be avoided for its well-known adverse effects on health. Habitual physical activity has been inversely associated with blood pressure in other studies.25 In CARDIA, the baseline physical activity score was inversely related to blood pressure in men but not in women, and there was no relationship between change in physical activity score and change in blood pressure. The lack of relationship may in part be due to attenuation caused by the inaccuracy of the self-reported physical activity data.
Several dietary factors including calcium, potassium, sodium, and protein have been found or hypothesized to be associated with blood pressure.26 27 28 29 30 Due to practical difficulties, in CARDIA, urinary sodium excretion was collected only in a subgroup of participants and therefore could not be included in the analysis. Baseline calcium intake was not related to baseline blood pressure, nor was it related to the 7-year average blood pressure.15 In addition, the 7-year change in calcium intake was not correlated with the 7-year change in blood pressure. These results are consistent with other studies that have shown no relationship between calcium intake and blood pressure.27 Many cross-sectional studies have reported an inverse relationship between potassium intake and blood pressure.28 29 In CARDIA, baseline potassium intake was significantly inversely related to average blood pressure only in white women and (borderline significant) in black men. A recent finding from the INTERSALT study suggests that protein intake is inversely associated with blood pressure.30 In CARDIA, although protein intake was inversely associated with average blood pressure in every sex-race group, none of the coefficients attained statistical significance.
The psychosocial variables used in the analyses were education and hostility score. Unlike the results of many other studies, in CARDIA, baseline education was not associated with blood pressure.31 In this young adult cohort, baseline education is a less precise indicator of socioeconomic status because some participants were still going to school and others might go back to school in the future. Furthermore, similar to the findings of another study, the CARDIA data do not support the hypothesis that hostility is associated with hypertension.32
Impact of Obesity and Lifestyle on the Black-White Difference in
Blood Pressure
The data from this study indicate that obesity and
certain
lifestyle factors, for example, alcohol drinking and lack of physical
activity, are responsible for a large proportion of the black-white
difference in blood pressure. However, a residual black-white
difference in blood pressure remains after adjusting for these factors.
There are several hypothetical explanations for this difference. First,
most of the lifestyle factors used in this study are based on
self-reported data and may have large measurement errors.
Measurement errors would attenuate the association between lifestyle
factors and blood pressure and thus underestimate the reduction of a
black-white difference in lifestyle factoradjusted blood
pressure. Second, due to lack of data, several important factors (for
example, sodium intake and certain psychosocial characteristics such as
psychosocial stress or anxiety), were not measured and could not be
included in the analyses. Third, race may independently predict
blood pressure change. Certain stressors associated with minority
status (for example, racial discrimination) may be related to the
residual black-white difference in blood pressure. Several studies
have shown that blacks with darker skin tend to have higher blood
pressure.36 37 38 Blacks with darker skin
also may be exposed
to greater discrimination and poverty.38 Fourth, the
black-white difference also may be influenced by genetic
factors.
It is unlikely that the reduction in the black-white difference was biased by the exclusion of participants from the original cohort. Approximately 19% of the participants were excluded from the analyses if they had missed two or more examinations. Comparisons of baseline characteristics indicated that within each sex-race group, those who were included and those who were excluded were similar with respect to all important variables such as SBP, DBP, BMI, alcohol intake, and physical activity. For age, education, and cigarette smoking, small differences were observed for both blacks and whites. The relatively weak associations between these variables and blood pressure suggest these differences are unlikely to bias the results.
Despite these problems, after adjusting for obesity and lifestyle factors, the black-white difference was reduced both in men and women; for women, the difference was reduced by more than half. These results suggest that it is important to establish a healthy lifestyle during young adulthood including regular exercise, limited or no alcohol drinking, and most important, avoidance of weight gain.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received May 16, 1995; revision received August 7, 1995; accepted August 14, 1995.
| References |
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