Life’s Essential 8 is associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease but not venous thromboembolism in men: a prospective cohort study

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) shares several risk factors with venous thromboembolism (VTE). The American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 (LS7), which included seven health and behavioural factors for CVD prevention, has recently been upgraded to Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) score. We aimed to examine the prospective association between LE8 and the risks of ASCVD and VTE in Finland.Methods: We utilized data based on 1899 men aged 42–61 years in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease (KIHD) prospective study. The LE8 score was generated from baselines measures of four health behaviours (physical activity, diet, nicotine exposure and sleep health) and four health factors (BMI, blood lipids, blood glucose and blood pressure). Each factor was scored from 0 to 100 and summed into a composite score. Participants were classified into quartiles (Q) based on the total LE8 score – Q1, ≤ 420; Q2, >420 to 485; Q3, >485 to 550; Q4, >550. Multivariable Cox regression models were utilized to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) along with the 95% confidence intervals (CI) for ASCVD and VTE.Results: After median follow-up durations of 24 and 25 years, 889 ASCVD and 127 VTE events were recorded, respectively. The risk of ASCVD was found to be 58% lower in men belonging to the highest LE8 quartile compared to those in the lowest quartile (HR:0.42; 95%CI: 0.34–0.51). There was no significant evidence of an association between LE8 and VTE risk (Q4 vs Q1, HR:1.02; 95%CI: 0.60–1.74).Conclusion: The risk of ASCVD was significantly lower in middle-aged and older Finnish men who had a high LE8 score, but there was no significant association with VTE. Further large-scale prospective studies conducted in women and other population groups are necessary to confirm these findings.