Modified Ideal Cardiovascular Health Status is Associated with Lower Prevalence of Stroke in Rural Northeast China

BACKGROUND: In 2010, the American Heart Association developed a new definition of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) based on seven cardiovascular health metrics. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between modified ideal CVH metrics and the risk of stroke in the rural population of Northeast China. METHODS: We included 11,417 adults from the rural population in Northeast China and collected all the information, including the baseline characteristics, history of stroke, and the seven ideal CVH metrics. RESULTS: Our results showed that the presence of stroke was associated with high body mass index (BMI), poor diet score (salt intake), high total cholesterol (TC), high blood pressure (BP), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG). The prevalence of stroke increased as the number of ideal CVH metrics decreased, and peaked to 13.1% among those with only one ideal CVH metric. Participants with only one ideal CVH had a 4.40-fold increased susceptibility of stroke than those with all seven ideal health metrics. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that people with a better CVH status had a lower prevalence of stroke and the susceptibility of stroke increased with the decreasing of the number of ideal CVH metrics.