Relationship Between the “Life’s Essential 8” Lifestyle Metrics and Serum High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Levels in South Korea

Background: Mitigation of systemic inflammation may support the achievement of healthy lives and well-being. The American Heart Association recently proposed “Life’s Essential 8” (LE8) lifestyle metric for evaluating cardiovascular health (CVH) status; however, most existing studies have been limited to populations in the United States. This study examined the association between the LE8 score and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in Korean adults. Methods: A nationwide sample of 18,500 adults was analyzed. The LE8 score was calculated based on four health behaviors (diet, physical activity, smoking, and sleep health) and four biometric health factors (body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure). The LE8 scores were categorized into three groups: 80–100 (ideal CVH), 50–79 (intermediate CVH), and 0–49 (poor CVH). The hs-CRP levels were classified as <3 mg/L or ≥3 mg/L. Logistic regression models were used for the analysis. Results: Among the participants, 21.9%, 67.3%, and 10.9% had ideal, intermediate, and poor CVH, respectively. In the logistic regression models, the adjusted OR (95% CI) for the association between LE8 categories and hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L was 1.94 (1.56–2.40) for the intermediate group and 3.21 (2.41–4.28) for the poor group, respectively, compared with the ideal group. Conclusions: Poor CVH status assessed by the LE8 lifestyle health metric was associated with high hs-CRP levels. The study findings suggest that future longitudinal studies are required to establish the temporal relationship between the LE8 and hs-CRP.