Age-Dependent Association Between Modifiable Risk Factors and Incident Cardiovascular Disease

Background There have been limited data examining the age-dependent relationship of wide-range risk factors with the incidence of each subtype of cardiovascular disease (CVD) event. We assessed age-related associations between modifiable risk factors and the incidence of CVD. Methods and Results We analyzed 3 027 839 participants without a CVD history enrolled in the JMDC Claims Database (mean age, 44.8±11.0 years; 57.6% men). Each participant was categorized as aged 20 to 49 years (n=2 008 559), 50 to 59 years (n=712 273), and 60 to 75 years (n=307 007). Using Cox proportional hazards models and the relative risk reduction, we identified associations between risk factors and incident CVD, consisting of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, stroke, and heart failure (HF). We assessed whether the association of risk factors for developing CVD would be modified by age category. Over a mean follow-up of 1133 days, 6315 myocardial infarction, 56 447 angina pectoris, 28 079 stroke, and 56 369 HF events were recorded. The incidence of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, stroke, and HF increased with age category. Hazard ratios of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes in the multivariable Cox regression analyses for myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, stroke, and HF decreased with age category. The relative risk reduction of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes for CVD events decreased with age category. For example, the relative risk reduction of hypertension for HF decreased from 59.2% in participants aged 20 to 49 years to 38.1% in those aged 60 to 75 years. Conclusions The contribution of modifiable risk factor to the development of CVD is greater in younger compared with older individuals. Preventive efforts for risk factor modification may be more effective in younger people.