scholarly journals Change in Life’s Simple 7 Measure of Cardiovascular Health After Incident Stroke

Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Liu ◽  
David L. Roth ◽  
Rebecca F. Gottesman ◽  
Orla C. Sheehan ◽  
Marcela D. Blinka ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) is a metric for cardiovascular health based on the 7 domains of smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose. Because they may be targeted for secondary prevention purposes, we hypothesized that stroke survivors would experience improvement in LS7 score over time compared with people who did not experience a stroke. We addressed this hypothesis in the REGARDS study (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) cohort of Black and White adults enrolled between 2003 and 2007. Methods: Participants who had LS7 data at baseline, were stroke-free at baseline, had a 10-year follow-up visit, and either did not have a stroke or had an ischemic stroke >1 year before follow-up were included (N=7569). Among these participants, 149 (2.0%) had an adjudicated ischemic stroke between the LS7 assessments. LS7 scores were classified as 0 to 2 points for each domain for a maximum score of 14, with higher scores representing better health. Multivariable linear regression was used to test the association of ischemic stroke with change in LS7 score. Covariates included baseline LS7 score, age, race, sex, education, and geographic region. Results: The 149 stroke survivors had an average of 4.9 years (SD=2.5) of follow-up from the stroke event to the second LS7 assessment. After adjusting for covariates, participants who experienced an ischemic stroke showed 0.28 points more decline in total LS7 score ( P =0.03) than those who did not experience a stroke. Conclusions: Stroke survivors did not experience improvements in cardiovascular health due to secondary prevention after ischemic stroke. On the contrary, they experienced significantly greater decline, indicating the need for greater efforts in secondary prevention after a stroke.

Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Liu ◽  
David L Roth ◽  
Orla C Sheehan ◽  
Marcela D Blinka ◽  
Rebecca Gottesman

Introduction: Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) is a measure of cardiovascular health based on seven domains of smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose. Due to secondary prevention efforts, stroke survivors may experience improvements in LS7 scores over time compared to those who did not experience a stroke. Methods: We included participants over 45 years of age enrolled in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study who had LS7 data at baseline and 10-year follow-up and did not report a history of stroke at baseline (N=7568). Of these, 361 had an adjudicated ischemic stroke between the LS7 assessments. Scores on each domain of LS7 range from 1-3 for a maximum total score of 21, where a higher score represents better cardiovascular health. A general linear model was used to test the association of having an ischemic stroke on the change in LS7 score. Covariates included the LS7 score at baseline, age, race, gender, cognitive status, and education. Results: Findings indicated that those who were younger, African American, and had lower levels of education, experienced significant decline in LS7 scores from baseline to follow-up (Table 1). Those who had a stroke also experienced, on average, 0.25 points more decline in total LS7 scores than those who did not have a stroke (p=0.048). Conclusions: Stroke survivors did not experience improvements in cardiovascular health due to secondary prevention after an ischemic stroke. On the contrary, they experienced significantly greater decline, indicating the need for greater efforts in lifestyle modification and secondary prevention after a stroke.


Hypertension ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1953-1961
Author(s):  
Oluwasegun P. Akinyelure ◽  
Swati Sakhuja ◽  
Calvin L. Colvin ◽  
Donald Clark ◽  
Byron C. Jaeger ◽  
...  

Almost 1 in 5 US adults with hypertension has apparent treatment resistant hypertension (aTRH). Identifying modifiable risk factors for incident aTRH may guide interventions to reduce the need for additional antihypertensive medication. We evaluated the association between cardiovascular health and incident aTRH among participants with hypertension and controlled blood pressure (BP) at baseline in the Jackson Heart Study (N=800) and the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study (N=2316). Body mass index, smoking, physical activity, diet, BP, cholesterol and glucose, categorized as ideal, intermediate, or poor according to the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 were assessed at baseline and used to define cardiovascular health. Incident aTRH was defined by uncontrolled BP, systolic BP ≥130 mm Hg or diastolic BP ≥80 mm Hg, while taking ≥3 classes of antihypertensive medication or controlled BP, systolic BP <130 mm Hg and diastolic BP <80 mm Hg, while taking ≥4 classes of antihypertensive medication at a follow-up visit. Over a median 9 years of follow-up, 605 (19.4%) participants developed aTRH. Incident aTRH developed among 25.8%, 18.2%, and 15.7% of participants with 0 to 1, 2, and 3 to 5 ideal Life’s Simple 7 components, respectively. No participants had 6 or 7 ideal Life’s Simple 7 components at baseline. The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (95% CIs) for incident aTRH associated with 2 and 3 to 5 versus 0 to 1 ideal components were 0.75 (0.61–0.92) and 0.67 (0.54–0.82), respectively. These findings suggest optimizing cardiovascular health may reduce the pill burden and high cardiovascular risk associated with aTRH among individuals with hypertension.


Circulation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yejin Mok ◽  
Yingying Sang ◽  
Shoshana H Ballew ◽  
Casey M Rebholz ◽  
Gerardo Heiss ◽  
...  

Background: The AHA recommends focusing on seven traditional risk factors (Life’s Simple 7) for cardiovascular health promotion, primarily based on their impact on the risk of incident cardiovascular disease. However, the contribution of Life’s simple 7 in mid-life to prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI) in later life is unknown. Methods: In 13,500 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study (age 45-64 years) at Visit 1 (1987-1989), a 14-point score of Life’s simple 7 was constructed according to the status of each of seven factors (smoking, body mass index, physical activity, dietary quality, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting glucose). We quantified the association between this score and adverse outcomes after validated incident hospitalized MI occurring during ARIC follow-up, using Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for age at MI, gender, race, and year of MI occurrence. Results: 1,341 participants had a definite or probable hospitalized MI after the ARIC baseline visit (median elapsed time between baseline and MI occurrence, 24.4 years [IQR 17.5-25.4]). Of these, 807 (60%) had cardiovascular outcomes of interest after MI during a median follow-up of 3.0 years. Higher Life’s Simple 7 score (better cardiovascular health) in middle-age was associated with lower risk of adverse outcomes after MI in later life (Table). For example, individuals with Life’s Simple 7 score ≥10 had 50-80% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, recurrent MI, and heart failure compared to those with score ≤3. The associations were largely consistent across years of MI occurrence and when we restricted the follow-up after MI to 1-3 years. Conclusion: A better AHA Life’s Simple 7 in middle-age was associated not only with lower incidence but also with a lower risk of adverse outcomes after MI in later life. Our findings suggest a secondary prevention benefit of striving for ideal CV health status in mid-life, further supporting AHA promotion of Life’s Simple 7.


Circulation ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 125 (suppl_10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambar Kulshreshtha ◽  
Suzanne Judd ◽  
Viola Vaccarino ◽  
Virginia Howard ◽  
William McClellan ◽  
...  

Background: The American Heart Association has developed Life’s Simple 7 (LS-7) as a measure of cardiovascular health. In a recent study, LS-7 showed a graded relationship with cardiovascular disease incidence. The association of LS-7 with incident stroke has not been reported previously. Methods: We analyzed data from REGARDS, a national population-based cohort of 30,239 blacks and whites, aged ≥ 45 years of age, sampled from US population between 2003 and 2007. Data for LS-7 was collected by telephone, mail questionnaires, and an in-home exam. Participants were contacted every 6 months for possible stroke, which was validated by physicians using medical record review. LS-7 components (blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, BMI, smoking, physical activity, diet) were each coded as: poor (1 point), intermediate (2 points) and ideal (3 points). An overall LS-7 score, created by summing the 7 component scores (possible range: 7 to 21), was categorized as: highest (17–21), medium (12–16) and lowest (7–11) cardiovascular health. Cox regression was used to model LS-7 score categories with stroke events. Results: There were 22,914 participants with data on LS-7 and no previous CVD. Mean age was 65 years, 40% were black, and 55% female. Over 4.9 years of follow-up, there were 432 incident strokes. Mean (SD) LS-7 score was 13.5 (2.5). After adjustment for age and sex, mean LS-7 scores were lower for blacks (12.9 ± 0.02) than whites (14.3 ± 0.02). LS-7 categories were associated with incident stroke in a graded fashion (figure). After adjusting for age, race, sex, income, and education, each better health category was associated with a 25% lower risk of incident stroke (HR=0.75, 95% CI = 0.63, 0.90). In stratified analyses, HR was similar for blacks and whites (p-value = 0.55). Conclusion: Blacks had lower levels of cardiovascular health factors than whites. Better cardiovascular health based on LS-7 score was associated with a lower risk of stroke. Results suggest that efforts to improve the LS-7 score may be useful for stroke prevention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Yang Wang ◽  
Ying Xian ◽  
Tao Chen ◽  
Yanyan Zhao ◽  
Jinggang Yang ◽  
...  

Objective. Whether optimal cardiovascular health metrics may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in secondary prevention is uncertain. The study was conducted to evaluate the influence of lifestyle changes on clinical outcomes among the subjects underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods. The study group consists of 17,099 consecutive PCI patients. We recorded data on subject lifestyle behavior changes after their procedure. Patients were categorized as ideal, intermediate, or poor CV health according to a modified Life’s Simple 7 score (on body mass, smoking, physical activity, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose). Multivariable COX regression was used to evaluate the association between CV health and revascularization event. We also tested the impact of cumulative cardiovascular health score on reoccurrence of cardiovascular event. Results. During a 3-year median follow-up, 1,583 revascularization events were identified. The observed revascularization rate was 8.0%, 9.3%, and 10.6% in the group of patients with optimal (a modified Life’s Simple 7 score of 11–14), average (score = 9 or 10), or inadequate (less or equal than 8) CV health, respectively. After multivariable analysis, the adjusted hazard ratios were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.73–0.94) and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.79–0.99) for patients with optimal and average lifestyle changes comparing with the inadequate tertile (P for trend = 0.003). In addition, each unit increase in above metrics was associated with a decrease risk of revascularization (HR, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.93–0.98; P<0.001). Conclusion. Ideal CV health related to lower incidence of cardiovascular events, even after the percutaneous coronary intervention. Revascularization can be reduced by lifestyle changes. The cardiovascular health metrics could be extrapolated to secondary prevention and need for further validation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Orla C. Sheehan ◽  
Mandip S. Dhamoon ◽  
Janet Prvu Bettger ◽  
Jin Huang ◽  
Chelsea Liu ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisha Hou ◽  
Mier Li ◽  
Ju Wang ◽  
Yawen Li ◽  
Qianwen Zheng ◽  
...  

AbstractThe relationship between exercise and stroke recurrence is controversial. This study was designed to test whether an association exists between exercise and ischemic stroke recurrence in first-ever ischemic stroke survivors. Data were collected from January 2010 to June 2016. Baseline information was obtained during face-to-face interviews, and follow-up phone interviews were conducted every 3 months. Exercise type, frequency, intensity, and duration were recorded. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to determine the relationship between exercise and stroke recurrence. 760 first-ever ischemic stroke survivors who were able to exercise were enrolled. After adjusting for covariates, patients who exercised 3.5–7 h per week and more than 7 h per week had a lower relapse risk than patients who did not exercise (3.5–7: OR 0.415; > 7: OR 0.356). Moreover, if the fluctuation of exercise duration was over 4 h, the patients had a higher risk of stroke recurrence than those with variability of less than 2 h (OR 2.153, P = 0.013). Stroke survivors who engage in long-term regular mild exercise (more than 5 sessions per week and lasting on average 40 min per session) have a lower recurrence rate. Irregular exercise increases the risk of stroke recurrence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Jane A. Leopold ◽  
Roger B. Davis ◽  
Elliott M. Antman

Ideal cardiovascular health is associated with a decrease in adverse cardiovascular events. The My Research Legacy study examined ideal cardiovascular health using the Life’s Simple 7 survey and data from digital health devices. We hypothesized that digital devices provide a more objective view of overall cardiovascular health status than self-reported measures. Therefore, we analyzed weight and activity data recorded by digital devices to recalculate the Life’s Simple 7 Health Score. All study participants (n = 1561) answered the survey, while a subgroup (n = 390) provided data from digital devices. Individuals with digital devices had a lower body mass index (BMI) and higher weekly minutes of vigorous exercise than participants without digital devices (p < 0.01). Baseline Health Scores were higher in individuals with digital devices compared to those without (7.0 ± 1.6 vs. 6.6 ± 1.6, p < 0.01). Data from digital devices reveal both increases and decreases in measured vs. self-reported BMI (p < 0.04) and weekly minutes of moderate and vigorous exercise activity (p < 0.01). Using these data, a significant difference was found between the recalculated and the self-reported Life’s Simple 7 Health Score (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that incorporation of digital health devices should be considered as part of a precision medicinal approach to assessing ideal cardiovascular health.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Cushman ◽  
Suzanne E Judd ◽  
Virginia J Howard ◽  
Neil A Zakai ◽  
Brett Kissela ◽  
...  

Background: The Life’s Simple 7 (LSS) metric is being used by AHA to track the cardiovascular health of the United States population and move toward a 2020 impact goal for improvement. Levels of LSS are associated with mortality risk but there are limited data on whether this association differs by race or sex. Hypothesis: There will be sex and race differences in the association of LSS with mortality in the REGARDS cohort study. Methods: We studied 29,692 REGARDS participants; a population sample of black and white men and women aged 45-98 from across the US, enrolled in 2003-7. Extensive baseline risk factor data were measured in participants’ homes. The 7 LSS components (blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, body-mass index, smoking, physical activity, diet) were each scored in AHA-defined categories of poor (0 points), intermediate (1 point) and ideal (2 points), and were summed to yield scores ranging from poor for all (0) to ideal for all (14). With 6.4 years follow up there were 3709 deaths. Results: The LSS score was normally distributed with mean (SD) of 7.9 (2.0) in whites and 6.9 (2.0) in blacks. The age, region, income and education adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of death for a 1-unit worse LSS score, stratified by race and sex, are shown in the table. Race and sex interactions were tested individually in separate models. While better scores for LSS were strongly associated with lower mortality, associations differed by race and sex, being weaker in blacks than whites and in men than women. Conclusion: There were large associations of LSS with mortality risk in the REGARDS national sample; 1 point difference in score, corresponding to movement from poor to intermediate or intermediate to ideal for 1 of the 7 factors, was associated with a 16% lower risk of death in white women, 14% lower risk in white men or black women, but only an 11% lower risk in black men. Observed differences in the association of LSS with mortality by race and sex should be considered in efforts to gauge the impact of LSS interventions on health disparities.


Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua J Joseph ◽  
Aleena Bennett ◽  
Justin B Echouffo Tcheugui ◽  
Valery S Effoe ◽  
James Odei ◽  
...  

Aims/hypothesis: Ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) is associated with lower risk of incident diabetes, but whether this association varies by baseline glycemia (normal [<100 mg/dL] vs. impaired fasting glucose [100-125 mg/dL]) remains to be clarified. We assessed the incidence of diabetes based on American Heart Association (AHA) ICH components stratified by glycemic status to determine whether ICH is more effective for primordial or primary prevention of diabetes among middle-aged and older adults. Methods: This study included 7,662 non-Hispanic whites and African Americans from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study without prevalent diabetes at baseline (2003-2006), who completed the follow-up exam (2013-2016). Participants were categorized as having ideal, intermediate or poor cardiovascular health, as defined by the AHA 2020 Impact Goals, based on baseline ICH components (total cholesterol, blood pressure, dietary intake, tobacco use, physical activity and body-mass index (BMI)). We categorized participants based on their total number of components that were ideal (0-1 “poor”, 2-3 “intermediate”, and 4+ “ideal”). Incident rate ratios (IRR) were calculated using modified poisson regression adjusting for age, sex, education, income, race, alcohol use, estimated glomerular filtration rate, urine albumin:creatinine ratio and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. After confirming significant interactions with multiplicative interaction terms and application of likelihood ratio test, we stratified by glycemic status (normal vs. impaired fasting glucose). Results: Among REGARDS participants (mean age 63.0 [SD 8.4] years, 56% female, 26% African American), there were 560 incident diabetes cases (median follow-up 9.5 years). Overall, those with 2-3 and 4+ ICH components vs. 0-1 components had 31% (IRR 0.69; 95% CI 0.61, 0.79) and 71% lower (IRR 0.29; 95% CI 0.20, 0.42) risk of diabetes, respectively. Among 5,930 participants with normal fasting glucose, these risks were 36% (IRR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52, 0.79) and 80% lower (IRR 0.20; 95% CI 0.10, 0.37), while among 1,732 participants with baseline impaired fasting glucose these risks were 8% (IRR 0.92; 95% CI 0.80,1.07) and 13% lower (IRR 0.87; 95% CI 0.58,1.30) (p for interaction by baseline glucose status <0.0001). Conclusions/interpretation: Meeting an increasing number of ideal levels of dietary intake, physical activity, smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol and BMI was associated with a dose-dependent lower risk of diabetes for individuals with normal fasting glucose but not impaired fasting glucose. This suggests the AHA 2020 guidelines may be more effective for primordial versus primary prevention of diabetes among middle-aged and older adults.


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