Abstract Body: Background: The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death among women, increases after menopause. Latinas have a more adverse CVD risk profile than non-Latina White women but remain underrepresented in research; additionally, CVD and menopause-related education offered in Spanish is sparse. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfWPV), a non-invasive measure of arterial stiffening, has been extensively validated for the prediction of CVD events. In healthy perimenopausal Latinas, this study determined changes in cfPWV following Spanish-language health promotion education.

Hypothesis: Participants receiving virtual group education from Su Vida, Su Corazón will develop lower CVD risk, including cfPWV, than their wait-list control counterparts.

Methods: A two-arm pilot study was designed to reduce CVD risk in perimenopausal Latinas aged 40-60 years. Participants reported no hormone therapy use in the prior three months and were free of CVD. Participants received weekly virtual sessions from Su Vida, Su Corazón, a health promotion curriculum designed in Spanish with wait-listed participants receiving the same materials one year following randomization. Physical and anthropometric measures (e.g., weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profile) were collected during a clinical exam at baseline and 12 months. Sociodemographic factors and medical history were self-reported using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. cfPWV was assessed using the Vicorder® device. Statistical analysis was conducted using standardized t-test with two-tailed variance (α=0.10).

Results: Participants mean age was 47.7 ± 4.7 years (n=27). Among participants who received the weekly virtual sessions (n=15), cfPWV declined from baseline to 12-month follow-up by a mean 0.2 ± 0.9 m/s. Waitlisted participants (n=12) showed an average decrease of 0.1 ± 1.0 m/s across the same window. This change did not differ significantly between groups (p=0.6).

Conclusions: Health promotion with Su Vida, Su Corazón did not significantly impact cfPWV. However, this pilot study demonstrated that it was feasible to collect cfPWV data in a sample of midlife Latinas across clinical and community settings. Future work is necessary to modify the intervention for greater impact.