The interplay between metabolic health factors and stroke incidence in aging populations

Stroke remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in aging populations, and its risk is closely linked to metabolic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. To better understand these relationships, this study aimed to quantify the associations between key metabolic health factors and both stroke incidence and cognitive outcomes in older adults, and to evaluate the predictive value of these metabolic factors for stroke risk through cross-sectional secondary analyses of two population-based cohort datasets.

We analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; n = 7,322) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; n = 6,630). Associations with stroke incidence were assessed using multivariable logistic regression, and associations with cognitive outcomes were examined using multivariable linear regression. Random forest models evaluated the relative importance of metabolic factors for stroke prediction, with discrimination quantified by ROC curves (AUC). Mediation analyses explored whether stroke mediated the link between metabolic disorders and cognition.

Across both cohorts, diabetes and hypertension were consistently associated with higher odds of stroke, while obesity and hyperlipidemia showed smaller and cohort-dependent associations. Random forest analyses identified hypertension and diabetes as the strongest predictors of stroke. ROC analyses showed moderate discriminative performance for single metabolic factors (AUCs generally 0.70 - 0.80), with obesity performing weakest. Metabolic disorders-particularly diabetes and hypertension-were associated with worse cognitive performance, whereas hyperlipidemia showed small positive associations with certain cognitive measures in some models. Mediation analyses suggested that part of the adverse impact of metabolic disorders on cognition operates through stroke.

Metabolic health is strongly linked to stroke risk and cognitive outcomes in older adults. Targeted detection and management of hypertension and diabetes should be prioritized to reduce stroke burden and cognitive decline. Given only moderate predictive performance of single metabolic markers, comprehensive risk models integrating socioeconomic, clinical, and lifestyle factors are warranted for improved stroke risk stratification.