Low Birth Weight is Associated with Higher Blood Pressure Variability from Childhood to Young Adulthood: the Bogalusa Heart Study

The association between birth weight and long-term within-individual variability of blood pressure (BP) was examined in a longitudinal cohort of 1,454 adults (939 whites and 515 blacks; adulthood age = 19-50 years) enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 1973-2010. BP variability was depicted as standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and deviation from age-predicted values using 6-15 serial BP measurements from childhood to adulthood over an average of 25.7 years. Birth weight was significantly and negatively associated with adulthood BP levels, long-term BP levels, and rate of change. Importantly, low birth weight was significantly associated with increased BP variability in terms of standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and deviation. As evaluated using the regression coefficients, a 1-kg lower birth weight was associated with increases in systolic BP variability measures (-0.38 mm Hg, P = 0.04 for standard deviation; -0.004 mm Hg, P = 0.01 for coefficient of variation; and -0.16 mm Hg, P = 0.04 for deviation) after adjustment for race, age, sex, mean BP levels, and gestational age; similar trends in the associations were noted for diastolic BP variability measures. In conclusion, these findings suggest that birth weight affects not only BP levels but also the magnitude of within-individual BP fluctuations over time through fetal programming in BP regulation mechanisms.