Clustered musculoskeletal fitness was inversely associated with waist-to-height ratio (β = -0.006, p=0.001) and pulse wave velocity (β = 0.028, p=0.006) in adolescents with congenital heart disease.
Cross-Sectional (n=355)
Is musculoskeletal fitness associated with cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents with congenital heart disease?
Higher musculoskeletal fitness is inversely associated with adverse anthropometric indices and arterial stiffness in adolescents with congenital heart disease, suggesting fitness interventions may mitigate cardiovascular risk.
Effect estimate: β = -0.006
p-value: p=0.001
Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between musculoskeletal fitness (MF) and cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents with congenital heart disease (ConHD). Methods: This cross-sectional study included 355 adolescents with ConHD (median age 12.4 years range: 5.7–21.7; 43.4% female). Participants completed musculoskeletal fitness (MF) tests, including handgrip strength (HGS), curl-ups, push-ups, and trunk lifts, and underwent an assessment of anthropometric indices, blood pressure, pulse wave velocity (PWV), and carotid intima–media thickness (cIMT). To account for body size, HGS was allometrically scaled to body mass with adjustment for age, sex, and ConHD severity. Clustered MF was derived by calculating z-scores for allometric HGS, curl-ups, push-ups, and trunk lifts. Results: Allometric HGS was inversely associated with anthropometric indices: waist circumference WC (β = −4.467, p = 0.014), waist-to-hip ratio WHR (β =−0.039, p = 0.005), waist-to-height ratio WHtR (β = −0.052, p = 0.001), and BMI (β = −3.115, p = 0.001). Push-ups were inversely related to all anthropometric indices (p < 0.05). Trunk lift showed positive associations with multiple anthropometric indices except WHR (all p < 0.05). Clustered MF was negatively associated with WHR (β = −0.004, p = 0.008) and WHtR (β = −0.006, p = 0.001). HGS (β = 0.18, p = 0.033), push-ups (β = 0.004, p = 0.041), and clustered fitness (β = 0.028, p = 0.006) were inversely associated with PWV. Conclusions: Systematically increasing MF in rehabilitation may provide a feasible strategy to mitigate CVD risk in adolescents with ConHD.
Hao et al. (Thu,) conducted a cross-sectional in Congenital heart disease (n=355). Musculoskeletal fitness was evaluated on Association between musculoskeletal fitness and cardiovascular risk factors (β = -0.006, p=0.001). Clustered musculoskeletal fitness was inversely associated with waist-to-height ratio (β = -0.006, p=0.001) and pulse wave velocity (β = 0.028, p=0.006) in adolescents with congenital heart disease.