Observational studyPloS one2014
Sex differences in flexibility-arterial stiffness relationship and its application for diagnosis of arterial stiffening: a cross-sectional observational study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Acute effect of static stretching on arterial stiffness following high-intensity resistance exercise.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Acute effect of lower-limb peristaltic pulse external pneumatic compression on segmental arterial stiffness in healthy young adults.Physiological reports · 2025Trial
- Effect of Flexibility Training Associated with Multicomponent Training on Posture and Quality of Movement in Physically Inactive Older Women: A Randomized Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Acute effect of healthy walking on arterial stiffness in patients with type 2 diabetes and differences by age and sex: a pre-post intervention study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2019Trial
- Relationships between trunk tissue distribution, metabolic risk factors and physical performance in young people-A pilot study.Clinical physiology and functional imaging · 2025Article
- Effects of agricultural or gardening physical activity on cardiovascular disease and dementia-related markers via arterial stiffness, cognitive function, and cerebral white matter status: results from cross-sectional and interventional studies.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Investigations of segmental arterial stiffness in a cross-sectional study on young adult male trained swimmers, cyclists, and non-trained men.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Agricultural or gardening physical activity may slow neurovascular aging and prevent stroke and dementia: an experimental and cross-sectional study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- The relationship between hypertension and health-related physical fitness in older adult residences in Wuhan: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Acute effects of low-intensity one-legged electrical muscle stimulation on arterial stiffness in experimental and control limbs.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Self-organizing neural network for reproducing human postural mode alternation through deep reinforcement learning.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Association between Yoga Participation and Arterial Stiffness: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Arterial stiffness and augmentation index are associated with balance function in young adults.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Article
- The association between physical activity and fear of falling among community-dwelling older women in China: the mediating role of physical fitness.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Effects of acute cervical stretching on arterial wall elastic properties.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Impact of Sex on the Association between Flexibility and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
- Regular exercise ball training reduces arterial stiffness in sedentary middle-aged males.Journal of physical therapy science · 2022Article
- Three-minute bench step exercise as a countermeasure for acute mental stress-induced arterial stiffening.PloS one · 2022Article
- Acute Effects of Low-Intensity Electrical Stimulation on Segmental Arterial Stiffness.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeArterial stiffness might be related to trunk flexibility in middle-aged and older participants, but it is also affected by age, sex, and blood pressure. This cross-sectional observational study investigated whether trunk flexibility is related to arterial stiffness after considering the major confounding factors of age, sex, and blood pressure. We further investigated whether a simple diagnostic test of flexibility could be helpful to screen for increased arterial stiffening.
methodsAccording to age and sex, we assigned 1150 adults (male, n = 536; female, n = 614; age, 18-89 y) to groups with either high- or poor-flexibility based on the sit-and-reach test. Arterial stiffness was assessed by cardio-ankle vascular index.
resultsIn all categories of men and in older women, arterial stiffness was higher in poor-flexibility than in high-flexibility (P<0.05). This difference remained significant after normalizing arterial stiffness for confounding factors such as blood pressure, but it was not found among young and middle-aged women. Stepwise multiple-regression analysis also supported the notion of the sex differences in flexibility-arterial stiffness relationship. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that cut-off values for sit-and-reach among men and women were 33.2 (area under the curve [AUC], 0.711; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.666-0.756; sensitivity, 61.7%; specificity, 69.7%) and 39.2 (AUC, 0.639; 95% CI, 0.592-0.686; sensitivity, 61.1%; specificity, 62.0%) cm, respectively.
conclusionOur results indicate that flexibility-arterial stiffness relationship is not affected by BP, which is a major confounding factor. In addition, sex differences are observed in this relationship; poor trunk flexibility increases arterial stiffness in young, middle-aged, and older men, whereas the relationship in women is found only in the elderly. Also, the sit-and-reach test can offer a simple method of predicting arterial stiffness at home or elsewhere.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.