Abstract 194: Age, Gender, Race/ethnicity, and Income-related Patterns in Ideal Cardiovascular Health

Abstract

Introduction: Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) in adulthood is rare; however, the relationship between CVH and age has not been fully delineated. The aim of this study was to characterize the association of age with ideal CVH and individual CVH metrics across the lifespan and to compare these associations across gender, race, and income subgroups. Methods: We studied participants aged 12-80 years from NHANES 2005-2016 (n=42,367). Ideal CVH was defined using the AHA’s Simple 7 criteria (range 0-14) based on smoking status, body mass index, physical activity, diet quality, total cholesterol, plasma glucose, and blood pressure. Cubic models were used to model the association of mean CVH with age. The percentage of participants with ideal (≥5) and poor (≤2) CVH were plotted by age. Results: Mean CVH declined with increasing age starting in early adolescence and reaching a nadir by age 60 before stabilizing ( Figure 1 ). At age 20, only 45% of adults had ideal CVH; >50% of adults had poor CVH by age 53. Women had higher mean CVH than men at younger ages but lower mean CVH at age ≥60 ( Figure 2 ). Mean CVH scores were highest for non-Hispanic whites and higher income adults, and lowest for non-Hispanic blacks and low-income adults across all ages. Mean CVH decreased to poor levels ~30 years earlier for non-Hispanic blacks compared with non-Hispanic whites, and ~35 years earlier younger for low-income compared with higher-income adults. Conclusions: The proportion of the population with ideal CVH decreases within increasing age beginning in early adolescence and persists through adulthood. Race/ethnicity and income disparities in CVH are evident early in life and became more profound at older ages.