Determinants of aortic stiffness: 16-year follow-up of the Whitehall II study.
BACKGROUND:Aortic stiffness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease endpoints.Cross-sectional studies have shown associations of various cardiovascular risk factors with aortic pulse wave velocity, a measure of aortic stiffness, but the long-term impact of these factors on aortic stiffness is unknown.METHODS:In 3,769 men and women from the