Abstract P002: Seven-Year Changes in Cardiovascular Health in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study

Abstract

Objective: The AHA Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) defines cardiovascular health with smoking, physical activity, diet quality, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood glucose. We examined changes in LS7 score and its components in older adults over seven years of follow-up. Methods: We analyzed 2,234 adults aged 65+ in the Cardiovascular Health Study who had all LS7 components measured at baseline (1989) and seven years later (1996). We scored each component as ideal (2), intermediate (1), or poor (0). LS7 score was the sum of components, ranging from 0 (worst) to 14 (best), then categorized as ideal (10-14), intermediate (5-9), or poor (0-4). Results: Mean LS7 score at baseline was 8.71, declining by 0.24 points (95% CI: 0.17, 0.31) to 8.47 seven years later. At baseline, LS7 score was ideal in 35% of participants, intermediate in 63%, and poor in 1.7%. Seven years later, the distribution shifted down, with 31% scoring ideal, 67% scoring intermediate, and 2.0% scoring poor. Of those scoring ideal at baseline, 57% (95% CI: 53%, 60%) maintained ideal scores seven years later (Figure, Panel A). Of those scoring intermediate at baseline (Panel B), 18% (95% CI: 16%, 20%) improved to ideal. Of those scoring poor at baseline (Panel C), 76% (95% CI: 63%, 90%) improved to intermediate, but none improved to ideal. For components, maintenance of baseline ideal status was 95% for smoking, 86% for glucose, 80% for BMI, 77% for cholesterol, and 55% for physical activity, but only 35% for blood pressure and 7% for diet (Panel A). Decline of baseline intermediate status to poor was 33% for blood pressure and 24% for diet (Panel B). Improvement of baseline poor status to intermediate or ideal was >50% for cholesterol and physical activity and >40% for smoking and diet (Panel C). Conclusions: While cardiovascular health declined on average in an aging population, some older adults improved their cardiovascular health as they aged. Declines in diet quality and blood pressure control contributed to overall declines in cardiovascular health.