Abstract
We investigated the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis and its correlates among 419 elderly men aged 65-74 years in two rural communities (I town in Akita prefecture and N town in Kochi prefecture) and an urban community (Y city in Osaka). Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. Of the participants. 25-30% displayed thickening (maximum intima-media thickness (IMT)≥1.1 mm) in the common carotid arteries (CCA) and 40-55% had thickening (maximum IMT≥1.5 mm) in the internal carotid arteries (ICA). Both the CCA and ICA walls were thicker and the outer and inner CCA diameters were greater in the rural communities than in the urban community. The regional differences in IMT and CCA diameter appeared to be explicable in part by the difference in prevalence of hyperension extending over a long period. Multiple logistic regression models adjusting for covariants indicated that hypertension and smoking were significant risk factors for ICA wall thickning in the rural communities, while total serum cholesterol and HDL cholsterol were significantly associated with CCA wall thickening in the urban residents whose total cholesterol level was righer than that of the rural residents.
