Early Vascular Ageing in the YOUth

EVA4YOU is a cross-sectional study enrolling 3000 students and apprentices aged between 14 and 19 years. Examinations are conducted at schools and companies throughout Tyrol, Austria and include laboratory measurements; standardized medical interviews; anthropometry; liver elastography; ultrasonography of the carotid artery and the aorta, and blood pressure, bioelectrical impedance; visceral abdominal fat-tissue-thickness measurement, pulse-wave velocity measurements. The study hypothesis is that the cardiovascular risk factors measured already influence the formation of atherosclerosis (measured as carotid and aortic Intima-Media Thickness and Pulse-Wave-Velocity) in adolescents. A long-term follow-up by means of record linkage is furthermore planned to evaluate the effect of early atherosclerosis and the cardiovascular risk profile on future morbidity with a special focus cardio- and cerebrovascular events.