Abstract P367: Primordial Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease through Healthy Lifestyle in a Large Prospective Cohort of Young Women
Background: Although overall mortality rates from CHD in the U.S. have continued to decline in recent decades, the CHD mortality rate among women 35 to 54 years old has been increasing on average by 1.5% per year since 1997. This unfavorable trend may be explained, in part, by adverse lifestyle habits among younger adults. The purpose of this analysis was to estimate the burden of CHD among younger women that can be attributed to lack of adherence to a healthy lifestyle. Methods and Results: We conducted a prospective analysis among 93,161 women, 27-44 years of age at baseline, enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II cohort and followed from 1991 to 2009. Lifestyle factors were assessed repeatedly during follow-up by questionnaire. Healthy lifestyle was defined as not currently smoking, having a BMI of 18.5 [[Unable to Display Character: –]] 24.9 kg/m 2 , engaging in at least 2.5 hours/week of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity, having a diet in the top 40% of Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010, and consuming 5 [[Unable to Display Character: –]] 30g/day of alcohol. To estimate the proportion of CHD that could be attributed to poor adherence to a healthy lifestyle, we calculated the population attributable risk percent. During follow-up, we documented 441 new cases of non-fatal MI and fatal CHD. After adjustment for other CVD risk factors, non-smoking, healthy BMI, exercise, and healthy diet were independently and significantly associated with lower CHD risk. Compared to women with 0 healthy lifestyle factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for CHD was 0.07 (95% CI, 0.03, 0.17) for women with all 5 healthy lifestyle factors (4% of the study population). Approximately 67% (95% CI 28%, 87%) of CHD cases in this population were attributable to poor adherence to a healthy lifestyle. Among non-smokers, 59% (95% CI 13%, 84%) of CHD cases were attributable to poor adherence to the other four healthy lifestyle factors. Conclusions: Primordial prevention through maintenance or adoption of a healthy lifestyle may lower incidence of CHD and potentially reverse the unfavorable trend in CHD mortality in younger women.