Associations Between Health-Related Social Needs and Cardiovascular Health Among US Adults

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Cardiology
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Unfavorable health-related social needs (HRSNs) can negatively impact health and exacerbate health disparities.
• The association between HRSNs and cardiovascular health (CVH), measured by Life's Essential 8, is not well-established in US adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between the number of unfavorable health-related social needs and cardiovascular health among US adults.
• To assess how varying levels of HRSNs correlate with different categories of cardiovascular health scores.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2020) for adults aged 20 years and older.
• Categorized CVH into low, moderate, and high using Life's Essential 8 scores.
• Quantified unfavorable HRSNs (0-8) and employed multivariable regression to analyze associations with CVH.

Main Results:

• A higher count of unfavorable HRSNs was significantly associated with worse cardiovascular health.
• Adults with 5 or more unfavorable HRSNs had a 2.42 times higher prevalence of low CVH compared to those with none.
• Conversely, those with 5 or more unfavorable HRSNs had a 0.46 times lower prevalence of high CVH.

Conclusions:

• A dose-response relationship exists between unfavorable HRSNs and both low and high CVH prevalence.
• Public health initiatives focused on mitigating HRSNs could be crucial for reducing health disparities and enhancing cardiovascular health.