Background
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are closely related. The study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on trajectories of arterial pulse-wave velocity (PWV) in a large population of users of connected smart scales.
Methods
The study analyzed PWV recordings obtained by Withings Body Cardio scales users between January 2020 and April 2020 in France and Germany. The population included 53,043 individuals, with PWV recordings available for at least 2 weeks during the period from Week 11 to Week 17 of 2020.
Results
The study found that PWV decreased during lockdown in both France and Germany. The reduction in PWV was greater in France than in Germany, corresponding to a vascular age reduction of 22.4 weeks versus 8.4 weeks, respectively. Three clusters of PWV trajectories were identified in the French population, including a cluster with decreasing PWV, a stable PWV cluster, and an increasing PWV cluster. The decreasing and increasing PWV clusters were associated with higher PWV and vascular age at baseline compared to the stable PWV cluster.
Conclusion
The study concludes that total lockdown measures have a measurable impact on vascular health, with a greater improvement in France than in Germany. The study suggests that these changes may have implications for the prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in the future.
Manual:
Download: Pulse-wave velocity during lockdown
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