Standard Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Prognosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome in Younger Patients

To investigate standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (SMuRFs) and prognosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) aged 50 years or younger.

An observational study.

Eleven general hospitals in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, from January 2017 to June 2019.

Patients with ACS were stratified into younger group (≤50 years) and older group (>50 years). The baseline characteristics and prognosis were compared for two groups. Survival analysis was used to assess the long-term prognosis.

Among a total of 1982 ACS patients, 322 (16.2%) were of ≤50 years. Compared with older patients, younger patients were more likely to have at least one SMuRFs (90.0% vs. 84.3%, p=0.013). The younger group had a higher prevalence of smoking (62.8% vs. 34.1%, p <0.001) and hypercholesterolemia (36.2% vs. 23.4%, p <0.001) compared with the older group. Younger male patients were more likely to have at least one SMuRFs than younger female patients (91.6% vs. 74.1%, p = 0.011). After the follow-up of 15 (10, 22) months, the cumulative rates of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) of the younger patients were significantly lower than those in the older patients [hazard ratio (HR): 0.2661, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1932 - 0.3665, p <0.001].

Younger patients with ACS were more likely to have at least one SMuRFs; and were likely to have a better prognosis than older patients. Key Words: Coronary artery disease, Acute coronary syndrome, Middle aged, Risk factors, Prognosis.