Ethnic differences in common carotid intima-media thickness, and the relationship to cardiovascular risk factors and peripheral arterial disease: the Ethnic-Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening Study.

Objective: To compare the mean and maximum common carotid intima-media thickness (CCIMT) in Blacks (Black Caribbean and Black African) and South Asians (People originating from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) in a population survey and make associations with established cardiovascular risk factors and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Patients and methods: A subset of 492 (293 South Asians and 199 Blacks) out of 572 participants aged ≥45 years recruited in a sub-study to the Ethnic-Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening (E-ECHOES) epidemiological study had mean and maximum CCIMT measured. A questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) and Intermittent Claudication assessments were made. RESULTS: Black participants had greater mean but not maximum CCIMT when compared to South Asians overall (P = 0.022), in men (P = 0.04) and in women (P = 0.044). Black ethnicity was an independent predictor of CCIMT even after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors (P