2009 Southern Regional Meeting Abstracts

Purpose of Study: This study examines the association of birth weight with heart rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and double (pressure-heart rate) product in black and white children, adolescents and young adults.
Methods Used: The study cohort included 8099 black (39.7%) and white children (n=2870, age=5-11 years), adolescents (n=2629, age=12-17 years) and adults (n=2600, age=18-48 years) enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study. Birth weight and gestational age information were obtained from Louisiana birth certificates.
Summary of Results: Blacks showed significantly higher SBP, but lower birth weight and heart rate than whites in children, adolescents and adults. In multivariate regression analyses, adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, gestational age and race, low birth weight was associated with faster heart rate in the total sample of adolescents (regression coefficient, β = - 1.1 beat/kg, p<0.001), with blacks and white having the same trends. Low birth weight was significantly and consistently associated with elevated SBP in all three growth periods in both blacks and whites (β = - 0.9 to - 2.2 mmHg/kg, p=0.031 to <0.0001). Low birth weight was associated with higher double product in children (β = - 77.4, p=0.075), adolescents (β = - 249.6, p<0.0001) and adults (β = - 219.8, p<0.0001) in the combined sample of blacks and whites, with the same trends being noted in both races.
Conclusions: These findings suggest the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance, although not measured in this study, plays a critical role the association between fetal growth retardation and hemodynamic characteristics.