LACK OF INDEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LEFT-VENTRICULAR MASS AND CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY TO PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS IN THE CORONARY-ARTERY RISK DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG-ADULTS (CARDIA) STUDY

The objective of this study was to determine whether exaggerated blood pressure (BP) reactivity to stress and psychosocial characteristics a re related to left ventricular mass (LVM) in a large cohort of young a dults. Analyses were conducted with 3,742 participants of the CARDIA s tudy (945 white men, 1,024 white women, 781 black men, and 992 black w omen), evaluated in 1990 to 1091 with echocardiographic measurement of LVM. Analyses were stratified by gender and race. The relationships o f LVM/height(2.7) and cardiovascular reactivity to physical and psycho logical stressors (treadmill exercise, cold presser, video game, and s tar-tracing tasks), were examined in both univariate and multivariate analyses adjusting for baseline BP, weight, and other relevant biobeha vioral variables. The relationships between LVM and several psychosoci al characteristics (hostility, anger, suppression, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and education) were also assessed. Systolic blood pressure (SEP) reactivity to exercise was significantly related to LVM in black and white men; LVM was 10% greater among white men with exaggerated ( upper quintile) peak exercise SEP than among other white men. SEP reac tivity to the cold presser test was related to LVM in all race/gender groups, although the relationship remained significant only among whit e men and women in the multivariate analysis. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity to the video game was related to LVM only among blac k men in adjusted analyses. After adjusting for resting BP, weight, an d other covariates in linear multiple regression models, SEP reactivit y to exercise explained only 3% of the variance in LVM among white men . Otherwise, reactivity to other stressors or psychosocial variables a ccounted for no more than 1% of the variance in LVM. It was concluded that among a cohort of young adults, blood pressure reactivity to phys ical and mental stressors did not add substantially to the prediction of LVM when resting BP, weight, and other covariates were taken into a ccount.