Associations between Life's Essential 8 and gallstones among US adults: A cross-sectional study from NHANES 2017-2018

Cardiovascular illness and gallstones are closely related. Our goal was to determine whether gallstones and the updated LE8 score, which measures cardiovascular health among US adults, are related.

3,570 adults participated in the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which provided the data for our study. Based on the criterion provided by the American Association for Cardiovascular Health (AHA), LE8 score (range 0-100) was calculated and classified as low (0-49), moderate (50-79), and high (80-100) cardiovascular health. Gallstones were derived from the questionnaire. Multivariate logistic modeling explored the independent relationship between LE8 score and gallstones.

There was a negative correlation between LE8 score and gallstones. Specifically, the odds of gallstones dropped by 15% for each 10-unit increase in LE8 score (OR = 0.85; 95% CI, 0.77-0.94). Smooth curve fitting detected a saturation effect between LE8 score and gallstones, with a minimum threshold of 66.25 points associated with both. There was a noticeably stronger inverse relationship between gallstones and LE8 score in those under 60 years of age and not taking antihypertensive or lipid-lowering drugs.

Lower LE8 scores may be a potential risk factor for the development of gallstones and could also be a target for risk assessment and intervention.