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The impact of combined health factors on cardiovascular disease mortality

Jonathan A Mitchell1, Daniel B Bornstein, Xuemei Sui

  • 1Arnold School of Public Health, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. mitche32@mailbox.sc.edu

American Heart Journal
|July 6, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Adopting multiple healthy habits, such as high cardiorespiratory fitness and not smoking, significantly lowers cardiovascular disease mortality risk in men. Promoting these combined behaviors in adulthood is crucial for prevention.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Preventive Medicine
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The combined impact of modifiable health factors on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risk is not well understood.
  • This study investigated the association between five modifiable health factors and CVD mortality in adult men.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the combined effect of five modifiable health factors on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.
  • To assess the impact of health profile scores on CVD mortality in a cohort of adult men.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 38,110 men aged 20-84 years was followed for mortality outcomes.
  • A health profile score was created based on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), physical activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI).

Main Results:

  • Individually, high CRF, normal BMI, physical activity, and not smoking were linked to reduced CVD mortality.
  • A combination of at least two positive health factors reduced CVD mortality risk (HR=0.67).
  • High CRF, not smoking, and normal BMI showed the most significant reduction in CVD mortality (HR=0.31).

Conclusions:

  • Increasing numbers of beneficial health factors in adulthood are associated with reduced CVD mortality in men.
  • Multibehavioral prevention strategies in adulthood are recommended to mitigate CVD mortality risk.
Abstract

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