cardiovascular risk factors and nutritional intake are not associated with ultrasound-defi ned increased carotid intima media thickness in individuals without a history of cardiovascular events

background: carotid ultrasound appears to be useful in the assessment of cardiovascular risk. in this study, we have assessed the carotid intima-media thickness (cimt) in a group of individuals without a history of cardiovascular events. methods: a sample of 431subjects (189 [43.9%] males and 242 [56.1%] females) was obtained from an urban population using a stratifi ed-cluster method in mashhad stroke and heart atherosclerosis disorder study. none of the subjects had a history of the cardiovascular event. carotid artery duplex ultrasound was used to determine the cimt in all subjects, and to identify those with an abnormal value (cimt [+]; i.e., cimt ≥ 0.8 mm). dietary intake of participants was assessed using a questionnaire for 24-h dietary recall. the relationship between anthropometric, biochemical and dietary data and cimt were assessed. results: the mean age of subjects was 48.7 ± 8.0 years. of the 431 patients, 118 (27.4%) were found to be cimt (+). of the cardiovascular parameters assessed, only age (odds ratio [or] [95% confi dence interval (ci)], 1.11 [0.56-4.34]; p < 0.01) and male gender (or [95% ci], 1.14 [0.63-2.23]; p < 0.05) were signifi cant independent predictors of ultrasound defi ned cimt. crude and total energy adjusted intake were not associated with the presence of cimt (+). conclusions: it appears that within a relatively young iranian population of individuals without a history of cardiovascular event, the presence of cimt (+) defined by duplex ultrasound cut-off value of ≥0.8 mm, did not associate with several modifiable cardiovascular risk factors or measures of dietary intake.