Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. A common observation in both CKD and cardiovascular disease is increased arterial stiffness. Although many studies have focussed on patients with advanced CKD or established cardiovascular disease, relatively few studies have investigated whether increased arterial stiffness is predictive of renal damage in a less selected primary-care population.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether increased arterial stiffness is associated with impaired renal function in a primary care population without overt CKD.

Design and Method: We performed a cross sectional analysis of data from the HIPPOCRATES-study, a study investigating hypertension and cardiovascular complications in a primary care population. Carotid-femoral Pulse-Wave Velocity (cfPWV), blood-pressure measurements and laboratory data were available. The estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Cockroft-Gault formula, adjusted for the Body Surface Area.

Results: We studied 587 patients (283 males). The mean age of the population was 61.1 ± 10.6 years. The mean GFR was 69.8 ± 15.6 ml/min. In a linear regression model unadjusted for age the mean CF-PWV was inversely associated with GFR. (ß −0.16; p<0.0001). However, this relationship did not persist after correction for age. Body-mass index was an independent determinant of eGFR in both models.

Conclusion: In a primary care population carotid-femoral PWV is significantly associated with decreased kidney function, however this effect is mainly determined by age and body-mass index.