Prevalence and Mortality of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome in China A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Background Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome is a novel staging framework used to evaluate CKM health. The burden of CKM syndrome in China is relatively unknown, and such data may inform future health priority. Objectives The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and mortality risk across CKM stages. Methods Nationally representative populations (n = 33,685) were included from the China Hypertension Survey. The weighted prevalence of each CKM stage was calculated. All-cause, cardiovascular (CV), and non-CV death associated with CKM stages were analyzed using Cox regression analysis. Population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated to estimate the mortality burden related to each CKM stage. Results Between 2012 and 2015, 18.8% of Chinese adults met criteria for stage 0, 15.5% for stage 1, 42.1% for stage 2, 14.7% for stage 3, and 8.9% for stage 4, with advanced stage (stages 3-4) was 23.6%. After 5-year follow-up, compared with stage 0, adjusted HR for all-cause death in stage 1 was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.51-1.15), stage 2 was 1.36 (95% CI: 1.04-1.77), stage 3 was 2.47 (95% CI: 1.91-3.19), and stage 4 was 4.00 (95% CI: 3.07-5.22). Similarly, adjusted HRs for CV death and non-CV death progressively increased from stage 2 to 4 (both P-trend values < 0.001). For all-cause, CV, and non-CV death, PAFs increased with advancing CKM stages. For instance, for all-cause death, PAFs caused by stages 2, 3, and 4 were 13.4%, 18.6%, and 22.0%. Conclusions Poor CKM health is widespread in China, underscoring the urgent need for collaborative and comprehensive management strategies to tackle CKM syndrome epidemic. (c) 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).