Intrinsic capacity and its dynamic change associate with risk of cardiovascular disease: Evidence from multinational...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Cardiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a primary cause of death and disability in older adults.
• Intrinsic capacity (IC) is an emerging metric for health outcomes, but longitudinal data is limited.
• This study examines baseline IC and its changes in relation to CVD across three large prospective cohorts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between baseline intrinsic capacity (IC) and longitudinal changes in IC with the risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• To analyze these associations across diverse populations in China, the United States, and England.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
• Calculated IC as a composite score of locomotion, cognition, psychological well-being, sensory function, and vitality.
• Assessed IC change via tertile transitions and longitudinal trajectories; incident CVD events were recorded and analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models.

Main Results:

• Higher baseline intrinsic capacity (IC) was consistently associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) across all three cohorts.
• Among individuals with low baseline IC, improving to higher tertiles of IC significantly reduced CVD risk.
• Compared to a stable high-IC trajectory, other trajectories, including declining IC, were associated with increased CVD risk.

Conclusions:

• Both baseline intrinsic capacity (IC) and its longitudinal changes are significant predictors of long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
• Maintaining higher IC and experiencing favorable changes in IC demonstrate protective effects against CVD.
• Lower IC, declining IC tertiles, and adverse IC trajectories are associated with increased CVD risk in aging populations.