Association of change in cardiovascular health based on life's essential 8 with incident cardiovascular disease

Objective: To evaluate whether and to what extent changes in cardiovascular health (CVH) based on life's essential 8 (LE8) are associated with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: A total of 7,194 participants were derived from UK Biobank. CVH was evaluated using a modified version of LE8. Participants were classified into three groups according to their LE8 score: high CVH (LE8 score >= 80), moderate CVH (50 <= LE8 score<80), and low CVH (LE8 score<50). Changes in CVH between 2006/ 2010 and 2012/2013 were analyzed. Results: During a median of 10.3 years of follow-up, CVD was observed in 597 participants. Compared to the consistent moderate group, the moderate to low group was associated with about 128 % increased risk of CVD (Hazard ratio [HR]: 2.28; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.61, 3.23), and the relevant HR (95 % CI) was 2.19 (1.46, 3.29) for the consistent low group; no statistically significant results were observed in the other groups. Moreover, no statistically significant exposure-response association between absolute change in LE8 score and incident CVD was documented (P-overall=0.15). Conclusion: Change in CVH based on LE8 was associated with the risk of CVD; however, the relationship varied widely in different CVH change patterns.