In recent years an increasing emphasis has been placed on the need for improved primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. \u00a0To this end, using evidence from clinical trials and epidemiological studies, the American Heart Association (AHA) has suggested seven ideal cardiovascular health behaviours (metrics), including:\u00a0not smoking; being physically active; having normal blood pressure, blood glucose and total cholesterol levels, and weight; and eating a healthy diet. \u00a0However, no previous study has investigated the relationship between the prevalence of these lifestyle factors and cardiovascular mortality on a national scale.<\/p>\n
Therefore this paper used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the USA to\u00a0examine the time trends of these 7 cardiovascular health behaviours among 44\u00a0959 persons 20 years or older and to estimate their relationship to the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular (CVD) mortality. \u00a0The main outcome measures included all-cause, cardiovascular, and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality.<\/p>\n
The authors found that few study participants met all 7 cardiovascular health metrics (2.0% in 1988-1994, 1.2% in 2005-2010). Overall 2673 all-cause, 1085 cardiovascular, and 576 IHD deaths occurred over a median follow-up period of 14.5 years. Among participants who achieved 1 or fewer cardiovascular health behaviours, age- and sex-standardized absolute risks were 14.8 deaths per 1000 person-years for all-cause mortality, 6.5 for cardiovascular mortality, and 3.7 for IHD mortality. Among those who met 6 or more metrics, corresponding risks were 5.4 for all-cause mortality, 1.5 \u00a0for CVD mortality, and 1.1 for IHD mortality. When\u00a0comparing participants who met 6 or more vs 1 or fewer cardiovascular health metrics, adjusted hazard ratios were 0.49 (95% CI, 0.33-0.74) for all-cause mortality, 0.24 (95% CI, 0.13-0.47) for CVD mortality, and 0.30 (95% CI, 0.13-0.68) for IHD mortality.<\/p>\n
Conclusions:<\/strong><\/p>\n This study found that few people displayed optimal cardiovascular lifestyle behaviour, but that doing so was associated with a significantly lower risk of \u00a0overall and cardiovascular mortality.<\/p>\n