Prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health in a community-based population - results from the Swiss Longitudinal Cohort Study (SWICOS)
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Published on: September 26, 2018
Andreas W Schoenenberger1,2, Dragana Radovanovic3, Franco Muggli3
1Department of Geriatrics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Insights
The American Heart Association (AHA) concept revealed that 54.9% of Swiss Longitudinal Cohort Study (SWICOS) participants have ideal cardiovascular health. However, many could still optimize their health through prevention campaigns.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology and Public Health
Background:
- The American Heart Association (AHA) developed a comprehensive concept to assess population cardiovascular health.
- The Swiss Longitudinal Cohort Study (SWICOS) provides a valuable dataset for evaluating population health metrics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze cardiovascular health in the SWICOS cohort using the AHA's seven-metric concept.
- To identify the proportion of participants meeting ideal cardiovascular health standards within the SWICOS study.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 474 SWICOS participants aged 18 and above.
- Applied the AHA's cardiovascular health concept, evaluating seven metrics: blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, smoking, weight, physical activity, and diet.
- Classified each metric into ideal, intermediate, or poor levels based on pre-defined cut-offs.
Main Results:
- 54.9% of participants (n=259) exhibited ideal cardiovascular health for three or more AHA metrics.
- 45.1% of participants (n=213) had ideal cardiovascular health for two or fewer metrics.
- While 91.5% showed poor cardiovascular health for two or fewer metrics, 8.5% (n=40) had poor levels for three or more.
Conclusions:
- The SWICOS cohort demonstrates generally favorable cardiovascular health outcomes.
- A significant proportion of participants have the potential to improve their cardiovascular health, highlighting the need for targeted prevention strategies.
Aims Of The Study:
The American Heart Association (AHA) developed a concept to measure cardiovascular health in populations. We aimed to analyse participants in the Swiss Longitudinal Cohort Study (SWICOS) according to the AHA concept.
Methods:
We analysed cardiovascular health according to the AHA concept in all 474 participants of the prospective, population-based SWICOS study who were 18 years or older. The AHA concept uses seven health metrics of known cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, total cholesterol, blood glucose, smoking, body weight, physical activity and diet), and classifies each health metric according to three levels (ideal, intermediate and poor) using pre-defined cut-offs.
Results:
Ideal cardiovascular health for three or more of the seven health metrics was found in 259 participants (54.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 50.1-59.4%), but a relevant number of participants (n = 213, 45.1%, 95% CI 40.6-49.7%) showed ideal cardiovascular health for only two or fewer of the seven health metrics. Poor cardiovascular health for three or more of the seven health metrics was found in 40 participants (8.5%; 95% CI 6.1-11.4%); a majority of 432 participants (91.5%; 95% CI 88.6-93.9%) showed a poor level for only two or fewer of the seven health metrics.
Conclusions:
Overall, we found favourable results for cardiovascular health in the population-based SWICOS cohort. Nevertheless, we see the need for further health prevention campaigns given the fact that a relevant proportion of the participants could optimise their cardiovascular health.
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