[Relationship between the augmentation index of central artery pressure and health examination data].
Arteriosclerosis is one of the major determinant of cardiovascular risks. The augmentation index (AGI) is a measure of systemic arterial stiffness derived from the ascending aortic pressure waveform. We examined the relationship between the AGI of the aorta measured by SphygmoCor (A + CorMedical Ltd. Australia) and the data from the health examination of 125 males and 31 females working for a steel company. In females the AGI was significantly higher than that in males. As the subjects were males and females significantly different in age, smoking habit, blood pressure, and other conditions, these data were analyzed separately for males and females. In males, smokers had a high AGI. Employees with hypertension had a significantly higher AGI than employees with normotension. The employees with hypertensive retinopathy had a higher AGI. The studies indicated that AGI was associated with age and diastolic blood pressure in both males and females. The items of age, volume of alcohol consumption per day and the health examination results such as BMI, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and the body fat ratio of employees in the high AGI group (AGI:24% or more) n = 39 and low AGI group (AGI:23% or less) n = 86 were compared. The results suggested that employees with high AGI were older and had higher diastolic blood pressure than employees with low AGI. In the high AGI group, the percentage of employees with hypertension was significantly higher than that in the low AGI group. These results of stepwise regression analysis indicated that age, smoking habit and diastolic blood pressure were significant and independent predictive factors for arteriosclerosis. AGI of the central artery is considered to be a useful parameter for assessing arteriosclerosis and for guiding health promotion.