Introduction:
Few studies evaluated the relationship between a favorable lifestyle a healthy profile of cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical atherosclerosis measured by Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CAC).
Hypothesis:
to identify the association between lifestyle profile and CAC among mid-elderly men and women.
Methods:
We included 4058 participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Health aged 35-74 years who underwent CAC measurement. The 2010 Task Force of the American Heart Association cut-offs were used to define the ideal profile and included smoking, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, glucose/cholesterol levels, and body-mass index. Only 21 participants had at least 6 ideal metrics. Participants were categorized according the number of ideal risk factors (IRF): 0-1 (n=1152, 28.4%), 2 (n=1234, 30.4%), 3-4 (n=1489, 36.7%), or 5-7 (n=183, 4.5%).
(Figure 1).
Results:
Compared to individuals with 0-1 IRF, the odds ratio (OR) of participants with 2 IRF presenting with CAC of 0 (compared to >0), <100 (compared to ≥100), and <400 (compared to ≥400) was 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54-0.79), 0.59 (95%CI: 0.45-0.77), and 0.61 (95%CI: 0.39-0.94), respectively. Similarly, the ORs of CACs of 0, <100, and <400 in individuals with 3-4 IRF were 0.54 (95%CI: 0.44-0.66), 0.42 (95%CI: 0.31-0.57), and 0.56 (95%CI: 0.34-0.92), respectively. The ORs of CACs of 0, <100, and <400 in individuals with 5-7 IRF were 0.33 (95%CI: 018-0.58), 0.17 (95%CI: 0.04-0.72), and zero, respectively.
Conclusion:
Subjects with more IRF had lower CAC compared to subjects with lower ICH metrics, but CAC >0 was found even in these individuals.
Interpretation of the Coronary Artery Calcium Score in Combination With Conventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors
