Association between asthma and risk of cardiovascular disease in Korean adults

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in Korea, and studies have reported that asthma can have a negative impact on CVD. This study aimed to identify the association between asthma and CVD, including the current status, treatment status, and duration of asthma in Korean adults. METHODS: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2021) was used, and 34,384 adults aged 19 years or older were included. Exposures were asthma-related characteristics, and outcomes were hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and stroke. The association between asthma characteristics and CVD was analyzed using the chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The asthma diagnosis experience rate of the population was 3.1%; 1.6% were currently suffering from asthma, 1.0% were receiving asthma treatment, 0.6% were receiving regular medication, and 1.5% had a disease duration of 11 years or more. The CVD diagnosis rates in the population were 20.2% for hypertension, 2.3% for ischemic heart disease, and 1.8% for stroke. Compared to those who had no asthma diagnosis, those who had been diagnosed with asthma (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.47-2.87), received asthma treatment (OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.22-3.04), and had a long duration of asthma (OR = 3.54, 95% CI = 1.71-7.33) had a significantly higher risk of ischemic heart disease. However, hypertension and stroke were not significantly correlated with asthma-related characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Asthma diagnosis and asthma-related characteristics were associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease. Our study suggests that research on risk assessment and management of CVD in patients with asthma would be needed.