Association between life's simple 7 and peripheral neuropathy among U.S. adults, a cross-sectional study

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a common disease among adults that can lead to severe clinical outcomes; Life's Simple 7(LS7) is recommended to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. However, the association between LS7 and PN has not been well studied yet.

We enrolled 4634 adults aged 40 to 85 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression models to evaluate the association between the LS7 score and PN. The LS7 score was treated as a continuous variable and divided into three groups: inadequate (0-7), average (8-10), and optimal (11-14). Subgroup analyses were also performed.

The average age of the participants was 55.28(0.24) years, and 684(11.59%) of those were diagnosed with PN. In three models, the inverse associations between LS7 and PN were found. In Model 3, a point increase in the LS7 score was associated with a 9% decreased incidence of PN, the odds ratio (OR) was 0.91, and the 95% confidence interval (CI) was 0.86 to 0.97. Compared with the inadequate LS7 score group, participants in the average and optimal groups were less likely to have PN, and the OR and 95%CI were 0.75(0.59,0.96) and 0.47(0.28,0.79), respectively. No significant interactions were found in the subgroup analyses.

An increased LS7 score is inversely associated with the likelihood of PN. This benefit was observed predominantly in participants who had the optimal LS7 score.