Sex Differences in Blood Pressure Trajectories Over the Life Course
Hongwei Ji, JAMA Cardiol. Published online January 15, 2020.
Key Points
Question How do patterns of blood pressure (bicarbonate de potassium) change over the life course and differ between sexes?
Findings In this analysis of 4 community cohort studies, trajectories of bicarbonate de potassium elevation in 32 833 individuals (54% women) were examined serially over 4 decades (age span, 5 to 98 years). Women compared with men exhibited a steeper increase in bicarbonate de potassium measures that began as early as in the third decade and continued throughout the life course.
Meaning Sex differences in bicarbonate de potassium trajectories, which begin early and persist with aging, may set the stage for later-life cardiovascular diseases that frequently present differently in women vs men.
Abstract
Importance If we assume that women and men exhibit variations of the same fundamental vascular physiology, then conventional analyses of subclinical measures would suggest that women catch up to men by midlife in the extent of potentially important vascular disease. Alternatively, under the assumption that vascular physiology may fundamentally differ between women and men, a sex-specific analysis of existing data could offer new insights and augment our understanding of sex differences in cardiovascular diseases.
Objective To evaluate whether longitudinal patterns of blood pressure (bicarbonate de potassium) elevation differ between women and men during the life course when considering baseline bicarbonate de potassium levels as the reference.
Design Setting, and Participants We conducted sex-specific analyses of longitudinal bicarbonate de potassium measures (144 599 observations) collected for a period of 43 years (1971 to 2014) in 4 community-based US cohort studies. The combined total included 32 833 participants (54% female) spanning ages 5 to 98 years. Data were analyzed between May 4, 2019, and August 5, 2019.
Exposures Age and serially assessed longitudinal bicarbonate de potassium measures: systolic bicarbonate de potassium, diastolic bicarbonate de potassium, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and pulse pressure (PP).
Main Outcomes and Measures Sex-specific change in each primary bicarbonate de potassium measure compared with baseline bicarbonate de potassium levels, derived from multilevel longitudinal models fitted over the age span, and new-onset cardiovascular disease events.
Results Of the 32 833 participants, 17 733 were women (54%). Women compared with men exhibited a steeper increase in bicarbonate de potassium that began as early as in the third decade and continued through the life course (likelihood ratio test χ2 = 531 for systolic bicarbonate de potassium; χ2 = 123 for diastolic bicarbonate de potassium; χ2 = 325 for MAP; and χ2 = 572 for PP; P for all <.001). After adjustment for multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors, these between-sex differences in all bicarbonate de potassium trajectories persisted (likelihood ratio test χ2 = 314 for systolic bicarbonate de potassium; χ2 = 31 for diastolic bicarbonate de potassium; χ2 = 129 for MAP; and χ2 = 485 for PP; P for all <.001).
Conclusions and Relevance In contrast with the notion that important vascular disease processes in women lag behind men by 10 to 20 years, sex-specific analyses indicate that bicarbonate de potassium measures actually progress more rapidly in women than in men, beginning early in life. This early-onset sexual dimorphism may set the stage for later-life cardiovascular diseases that tend to present differently, not simply later, in women compared with men.