The Association between Birthweight and Use of Cardiovascular Medications: The Role of Health Behaviors

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular medicine
• Public health
• Perinatal research

Background:

• Limited evidence exists on low birthweight's impact on cardiovascular medication use and health behaviors.
• Investigating the independent and combined effects of birthweight and adult health behaviors on medication needs is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the independent effect of low birthweight on cardiovascular medication use.
• To assess the combined impact of low birthweight and adult health behaviors on cardiovascular medication use.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 15,618 participants with birthweight and health behavior information.
• Cardiovascular medications were identified via the Prescribed Drug Register using Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes (C01-C10, B01).
• Multinomial logistic regression models were employed to analyze medication use (0, 1, or ≥2 types).

Main Results:

• Low birthweight was associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) for using ≥2 types of cardiovascular medications (OR=1.46).
• Poor health behaviors increased the risk of using ≥2 medication types for normal (OR=2.17) and high (OR=1.84) birthweight individuals.
• The highest risk for using ≥2 medication types was observed in individuals with both low birthweight and poor health behaviors (OR=3.14).

Conclusions:

• Low birthweight independently increases the risk of using multiple types of cardiovascular medications in adulthood.
• Adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular medication use, even for individuals with low birthweight.