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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
A Methodological Approach to Non-invasive Assessments of Vascular Function and Morphology
Published on: February 7, 2015
Vascular structure and function and their relationship with health-related quality of life in the MARK study
Luis García-Ortiz1,2, José I Recio-Rodríguez3, Sara Mora-Simón3,4
1Primary Care Research Unit, The Alamedilla Health Center. Castilla and León Health Service (SACyL), Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL), 37003, Salamanca, Spain. lgarciao@usal.es.
Insights
Vascular health, measured by ankle-brachial index (ABI) and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), is positively associated with physical quality of life in individuals with intermediate cardiovascular risk.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Vascular Biology
- Quality of Life Research
Background:
- Limited evidence exists on the link between vascular disease and health-related quality of life (HRQL).
- This study investigates vascular structure and function in relation to HRQL in individuals with intermediate cardiovascular risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between vascular parameters (ABI, ba-PWV, CAVI, AIx_75) and HRQL.
- To understand how vascular health impacts physical and mental well-being in a specific population.
Main Methods:
- 303 subjects (age 35-74) with normal ankle-brachial index (ABI) values (0.9-1.4) were analyzed.
- Vascular parameters including ABI, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV), and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) were measured.
- Health-related quality of life was assessed using the SF-12 questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Men reported higher HRQL scores than women in both physical and mental domains.
- Age positively correlated with CAVI, ba-PWV, AIx_75, and mental HRQL (MSC-12).
- Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) showed a positive association with physical HRQL (PSC-12) in adjusted analyses.
Conclusions:
- Normal range ankle-brachial index (ABI) is positively associated with physical health-related quality of life (PSC-12).
- Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) also demonstrates a positive association with physical health-related quality of life (PSC-12).
Background:
There is limited evidence concerning the relationship between vascular disease and health-related quality of life (HRQL). We investigated the relationship between vascular structure and function with health-related quality of life in a population with intermediate cardiovascular risk.
Methods:
This study analyzed 303 subjects with ankle-brachial index (ABI) values ranging from 0.9 to 1.4 who were included in the MARK study (age 35 to 74 years; mean:60.5 ± 8.5), of which 50.2 % were women. Measurements included: ABI, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV), and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), all measured using the VaSera device. The central augmentation index was adjusted to 75 lpm (AIx_75) using the Mobil-O-Graph device. HRQL was assessed by the Spanish version of the SF-12, version2. The highest obtained CAVI and ba-PWV values and the lowest ABI values were considered for the study.
Results:
The cohort was composed of21 % smokers, 76 % hypertensive patients, and 24 % diabetic patients. The ABI mean was 1.09 ± 0.07,the ba-PWV mean was 14.64 ± 2.55 m/s with a 12.9 % of subjects higher than 17.5 m/s, AIx_75 26.46 ± 14.05, and CAVI 8.61 ± 1.08 with a 36.6 % of subjects higher than 9. Men scored higher than women in the HRQL measurements for physical (PSC-12; 49.9 vs. 46.9, p = 0.004) and mental (MSC-12) domains (51.2 vs. 47.7, p = 0.003). Age was positively correlated with CAVI (r = 0.547), ba-PWV (r = 0.469), AIx_75 (r = 0.255, p < 0.01), and the MSC-12 (r = 0.147, p < 0.05), but not the PSC-12. In the adjusted multiple linear regression analysis, the positive association of ABI and CAVI with the PSC-12 was maintained.
Conclusions:
The ABI in the normal range has a positive association with the PSC-12 of HRQL evaluated with the SF-12. The CAVI also showed a positive association with the PSC-12 of HRQL.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01428934 .
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