Aging is associated with increases in carotid arterial stiffness and this process appears to be accelerated in older adults with diabetes. It is known that older adults with higher levels of physical activity (PA) tend to have lower arterial stiffness values compared to their more sedentary counterparts. Women typically experience an increase in arterial stiffness and cardiovascular events after menopause compared to older men. It is currently unknown whether a greater degree of physical activity modulates vascular aging in individuals with diabetes, and whether sex differences exist. This study examined arterial stiffness estimated from carotid artery ultrasound images and blood pressure data available from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) baseline data set in participants with non-Type 1 diabetes. Arterial stiffness was expressed as carotid artery distensibility, a measure of local arterial stiffness and calculated as the relative change in arterial diameter for a given change in pressure. PA was assessed via the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), a brief and easily scored 12-item survey used to assess usual PA in adults 65 years and older. This study evaluated the association between known cardiovascular disease risk factors/markers and carotid artery distensibility and examined the influence of PA on arterial stiffness. The influence of age and sex, while controlling for known cardiovascular disease risk factors and markers was examined in individuals with non-Type 1 diabetes. There was no main effect of PASE score on arterial distensibility before (P = 0.143) and after (P = 0.998) adjusting for known cardiovascular risk factors and markers, and there were no interactions between PASE and sex, or PASE and age. There was a main effect of age on arterial distensibility in both models (P=<0.001) and there was a main effect of sex on arterial distensibility in the final adjusted model only (P=0.040). These findings suggest that PASE is not predictive of arterial distensibility in older adults with non-Type 1 diabetes, and these results do not differ by age or sex. Follow-up analysis, using longitudinal models is required to further assess the influence of PA on vascular aging. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / It is well-known that aging is associated with increases in arterial stiffness, which is the progressive impairment of the ability of the arteries to respond to changes in blood pressure and flow. Increased arterial stiffness is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and appears to be accelerated in females and individuals with diabetes. Physical activity has been highlighted as a potential moderator of age-induced arterial stiffening. Healthy and physically active older adults typically display reduced arterial stiffening compared to their more sedentary counterparts, but the extent to which physical activity attenuates vascular stiffening in older adults with diabetes is unclear. Our results, from a cohort of approximately 2000 older Canadians with non-Type 1 diabetes, show that self-report physical activity level does not appear to be associated with arterial stiffness in this population, and these results do not differ by sex. Follow-up analysis should be conducted to assess the impact of physical activity over time on arterial stiffness in this population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/26975 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Droog, Connor A |
| Contributors | MacDonald, Maureen, Kinesiology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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