Title : Association of pubertal timing and pre-clinical cardiovascular risks among young adults (19-25 years) in the rural part of Telangana, India.

Background: CVDs are leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, imposing a significant burden on individual, family, and the healthcare system, translating as a major public health concern. Pubertal timing has not been conclusively identified if it is associated with the pre-clinical cardiovascular risk development in adulthood. This study aims to bridge the gap in literature from LMIC by secondary analysis of the available data from India searching for potential association between them.

Objective and Methods: Objective of study was to assess the association of pubertal timing and pre-clinical cardiovascular risk in females and males at early adulthood in rural Telangana. Participants were young adults (315 females and 386 males) aged between 19-25 years. Exposure variable was pubertal timing of the participant while outcome variables included waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, carotid intima-media thickening, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and  fasting blood glucose. Using STATA-17, the association of the exposure and outcome variables were assessed by univariable and multivariable linear regression analysis.

Results: There was evidence for association of PT with WC (β= -1.53; 95%CI: -2.65,-0.43; p=0.01), DBP(β= -1.37; 95%CI:-2.59,-0.16; p=0.03) and CIMT(β= -0.015; 95%CI:-0.028,-0.003;p=0.05) among females while there was evidence for negative association of PT with WC (β= -0.66; 95%CI:-2.57,-0.14; p=0.05) among males in early adulthood.

Conclusions: This study provides an indication of lower pre-clinical risk; WC, DBP and CIMT among females; WC among males who had puberty at later age. There some evidence for the relevance of studying the association of PT and pre-clinical cardiovascular risk among young adults separately by sex. Study underscores the need for a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to cardiovascular health, one that accounts for entire life course, beginning with the remarkable journey of puberty.

Dr. Snigdha Singh is a physician specialized in Community Medicine from KIIT University in India. She completed her MSc in Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United kingdom. Her research interests are Maternal, adolescent and child health; Non-communicable and Communicable diseases and Health care system strengthening. She has contributed in various vaccine and community field trials. She is currently working as Assistant professor in Department of Community Medicine, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, KIIT University in India and has published extensively on Non-communicable and communicable disease and adolescent health.