Abstract
BACKGROUND: The American Heart Association released an updated algorithm used to assess cardiovascular health (CVH)-the Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score. Our objective was to quantify the association between CVH levels estimated by the LE8 score and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in adults with and without cancer. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, 29,352 adults were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2018 at baseline linked to the 2019 National Death Index records. Cox regression models and Restricted cubic spline were used to evaluate the associations between CVH with cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: In this study, 14.8% of adults achieved a high total CVH score, compared to 20.3% with low scores. The adjusted HR (95% CI) for all-cause mortality in adults without cancer with a moderate or high CVH total scores compared with low scores was 0.71 (0.64, 0.79) and 0.46 (0.35, 0.60), respectively. The corresponding adjusted HR (95% CI) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality was 0.58 (0.47, 0.72) and 0.30 (0.16, 0.57), respectively. And all 8 CVH indicators in CVD mortality were protective factors. The adjusted HRs (95% CI) for all-cause mortality in adults with cancer with moderate or high scores were 0.73 (0.58, 0.92) and 0.75 (0.48, 1.18), respectively. CONCLUSION: According to the new LE8, higher CVH scores were associated with a reduced risk of all-cause and CVD-specific mortality in adults with and without cancer.