Use of the Brain Care Score to Estimate the Risk of Incident Cerebrovascular Events in Middle-Aged Women

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the United States, stroke is the third leading cause of death among women, with 1 in 5 women aged 55 to 75 years expected to experience a stroke. The Brain Care Score (BCS) is an evidence-based tool designed to motivate lifestyle changes, with higher scores associated with reduced risk of stroke, dementia, and depression. We aim to measure the association of the BCS and incident cerebrovascular events (CVEs), including stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA), in the Women's Health Study (WHS). METHODS: The WHS comprises women health professionals aged 45 and older in the United States. Participants without history of CVE and complete data available to calculate a BCS and covariates 5 years after enrollment were included. Higher BCS reflects better risk factor control, with the minimum score being 0 and the maximum score being 20. Cox proportional hazard models examined the association between BCS and incident CVE adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: A total of 21,271 women were eligible with a median age of 57.9 years (interquartile range: 53.9-63.8) and median BCS of 15 (interquartile range [IQR]:13-16). There were 1,294 incident CVE cases (6.1%) during a median follow-up of 22.4 (IQR: 15.9-23.5) years. A five-point higher baseline BCS was associated with a 37% decrease in the risk of incident CVE after adjusting for age, menopausal status, use of hormonal replacement therapy, and other known cardiovascular disease risk factors (hazard ratio [HR] 0.63, 95% CI 0.56-0.71). This association remained significant after adjusting for race, educational attainment, and income (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.57-0.72). There was a 28% decreased risk of incident CVE among those with a BCS equal to or above the median compared with those with a BCS below the median, in a fully adjusted model (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.64-0.80). DISCUSSION: Higher baseline BCS was associated with a decreased risk of incident CVE in the WHS. Future studies are needed to study the BCS in more diverse populations and to investigate how changes in BCS across the lifespan affect risk of CVE.