Life's Simple 7 and ischemic heart disease in the general Australian population

The American Heart Association released 7 modifiable factors, Life's Simple 7, that are expected to improve cardiovascular health (CVH), but their contributions to ischemic heart disease (IHD) in the general Australians are not well clarified.

We performed a cross-sectional study based on 7499 adults (≥18 years) who have tested for total cholesterol and fasting plasma glucose as part of 2011-12 Australian Health Survey. Poisson regression analyses were used to estimate the incidence rate ratios and population attributable fractions of those factors to IHD prevalence. Participants were classified into three CVH groups based on the number of ideal metrics: inadequate (0-2), average (3-4), and optimal (5-7). Logistic regression analyses were performed to elucidate the relationship between overall CVH and IHD prevalence.

357 participants were self-reported having IHD condition, with a weighted prevalence of 3.3%. Physical inactivity, elevated body mass index (BMI) and total cholesterol (TC) were independently associated with IHD. Compared to the inadequate category, participants in the optimal and average categories have a 78% [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.22; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.03-1.96] and a 45% (adjusted OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.39-0.77) lower IHD risk. One more optimal metric was associated with an 18% lower IHD risk (adjusted OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71-0.93).

Our findings indicate that physical inactivity, raised BMI and elevated TC were independent modifiable risk factors of IHD in the general Australian population. The improvement of overall CVH may also reduce IHD risk among the general Australian adults.