Association between life's essential 8 and Parkinson's disease: a case–control study

Objectives Life's essential 8 (LE8) is an emerging approach for accessing and quantifying cardiovascular health (CVH), but the effect on Parkinson's disease (PD) is still unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the association between LE8 metrics and PD in the US adults. Methods Data of 26,975 participants were extracted from the last 7 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (2005–2018). The LE8 metrics were calculated according to the American Heart Association criterion, and participants were divided into 3 groups using tertile range. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to explore the association between LE8 metrics and PD. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to verify robustness. A nonlinear linkage was evaluated via restricted cubic spline (RCS). The stability of this effect was validated by subgroup analysis and interaction test. Results A total of 26,975 eligible participants (including 271 PD cases and 26,704 non-PD cases) were included in this study. The multivariate logistic regression models revealed a reverse association of continuous LE8 metrics with PD with ORs of 0.97 (unadjusted model [95% CI: 0.96–0.98, P < 0.01], partially adjusted model [95% CI: 0.97–0.98, P < 0.01], fully adjusted model [95% CI: 0.95–0.98, P < 0.01]). Compared to those of low group, the ORs for high group were 0.37 (95% CI: 0.27–0.50, P < 0.01) in unadjusted model, 0.51 (95% CI: 0.36–0.72, P < 0.01) in partially adjusted model, and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.32–0.81, P < 0.01) in fully adjusted model. The sensitivity analysis ensured the robustness of the observed LE8-PD association. A nonlinear relationship ( P nonlinearity < 0.01) was observed via RCS analysis. The subgroup analysis showed that participants'gender might impact the strength of LE8 metrics-PD association ( P interaction = 0.029). Conclusions CVH, as delineated by LE8 metrics, was reversely associated with PD in the dose–response pattern, more pronounced in female compared to male. These findings highlight the potential of the LE8 metrics to guide targeted strategies for addressing gender-based CVH disparities, offering beneficial insights for the tertiary prevention of PD.