Enhancing the Cardiovascular Health Construct With a Psychological Health Metric for Predicting Mortality Risk.

Background: The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) Presidential Advisory deemed psychological health foundational for cardiovascular health (CVH) but did not include it as a CVH metric. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations of a CVH construct enhanced with a ninth metric for psychological health based on readily administered depression screening with mortality risk in U.S. adults. Methods: Participants were 21,183 adults (mean age: 48y, 51% female, 11% Black, 15% Hispanic, 65% White) from the 2011 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The LE8 algorithm was used to assess CVH. Two enhanced CVH constructs that include a ninth psychological health metric based on depression screening using the Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-2 and PHQ-9) were computed. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models compared all-cause and cause-specific mortality risk across CVH score tertiles and a priori defined categories (high: 80-100, moderate: 50-79, low: 0-49) in the overall sample and by sex and race and ethnicity. Results: There were 1,397 deaths (414 cardiovascular and 329 cancer deaths). High vs low CVH scores, enhanced with PHQ-2 and PHQ-9, were associated with 69% and 70% lower mortality risk, while a high vs low LE8 score was associated with 65% lower risk (p-trend<0.001). Higher LE8 and enhanced CVH scores predicted lower mortality risk in both sexes and in Black and White but not Hispanic adults and were also associated with lower cardiovascular and cancer mortality. Both enhanced CVH scores had excellent performance for predicting mortality, similar to the LE8 score (C-statistic = 0.843 vs 0.842, P < 0.001). Conclusions: A CVH construct enhanced with psychological health strongly predicts mortality. Inclusion of psychological health as a ninth CVH metric, with depression screening as a feasible proxy in clinical and public health settings, should be considered.

Inequalities by Income in the Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease and Its Risk Factors in the Adult Population of Catalonia.

Background Understanding the magnitude of cardiovascular disease (CVD) inequalities is the first step toward addressing them. The linkage of socioeconomic and clinical data in universal health care settings provides critical information to characterize CVD inequalities. Methods and Results We employed a prospective cohort design using electronic health records data from all residents of Catalonia aged 18+ between January and December of 2019 (N=6 332 228). We calculated age-adjusted sex-specific prevalence of 5 CVD risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and smoking), and 4 CVDs (coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure). We categorized income into high, moderate, low, and very low according to individual income (tied to prescription copayments) and receipt of welfare support. We found large inequalities in CVD and CVD risk factors among men and women. CVD risk factors with the largest inequalities were diabetes, smoking, and obesity, with prevalence rates 2- or 3-fold higher for those with very low (versus high) income. CVDs with the largest inequalities were cerebrovascular disease and heart failure, with prevalence rates 2 to 4 times higher for men and women with very low (versus high) income. Inequalities varied by age, peaking at midlife (30-50 years) for most diseases, while decreasing gradually with age for smoking. Conclusions We found wide and heterogeneous inequalities by income in 5 CVD risk factors and 4 CVD. Our findings in a region with a high-quality public health care system and universal coverage stress that strong equity-promoting policies are necessary to reduce disparities in CVD.

Education-related health inequities in noncommunicable diseases: an analysis of the Brazilian National Health Survey, 2013 and 2019.

This study assesses changes in the prevalence and distribution of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and related risk factors among Brazilian adults from the 2013 and 2019 Brazilian National Health Surveys (PNS). It is based on the hypothesis that deteriorating socioeconomic conditions over this period would lead to increased NCDs among the least advantaged populations. We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios by education category and three inequality measures - the slope index of inequality (SII), the relative index of inequality (RII), and population attributable fraction (PAF) - for obesity, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease, having any chronic condition, and multimorbidity by survey year. We also estimated the 27 Brazilian Federative Units RII and prevalence rates for diabetes and multimorbidity per year and plotted the RII against prevalence by year. Results showed that all NCDs increased over the period observed, ranging from an 8% increase in the adjusted prevalence of arthritis to a 24% increase in the adjusted prevalence of obesity. Measures of inequality showed that most conditions exhibited significant educational inequities in both 2013 and 2019. However, on average, education-based inequities did not significantly change between the two periods. Considering the deterioration of the socioeconomic conditions of most Brazilians, the erosion of social protections, and the continuing economic, political, and health crises occurring in the nation, we observed an urgent need for discussion about the best way to adopt equity-promoting health policies and programs and action to reduce socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in NCDs throughout the country.

Education-related health inequities in noncommunicable diseases: an analysis of the Brazilian National Health Survey, 2013 and 2019 / Inequidades relacionadas à escolaridade na prevalência de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis: uma análise da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde, 2013 e 2019 / Inequidades de salud relacionadas con la educación en enfermedades no transmisibles: un análisis de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud brasileña, 2013 y 2019

This study assesses changes in the prevalence and distribution of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and related risk factors among Brazilian adults from the 2013 and 2019 Brazilian National Health Surveys (PNS). It is based on the hypothesis that deteriorating socioeconomic conditions over this period would lead to increased NCDs among the least advantaged populations. We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios by education category and three inequality measures - the slope index of inequality (SII), the relative index of inequality (RII), and population attributable fraction (PAF) - for obesity, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease, having any chronic condition, and multimorbidity by survey year. We also estimated the 27 Brazilian Federative Units RII and prevalence rates for diabetes and multimorbidity per year and plotted the RII against prevalence by year. Results showed that all NCDs increased over the period observed, ranging from an 8% increase in the adjusted prevalence of arthritis to a 24% increase in the adjusted prevalence of obesity. Measures of inequality showed that most conditions exhibited significant educational inequities in both 2013 and 2019. However, on average, education-based inequities did not significantly change between the two periods. Considering the deterioration of the socioeconomic conditions of most Brazilians, the erosion of social protections, and the continuing economic, political, and health crises occurring in the nation, we observed an urgent need for discussion about the best way to adopt equity-promoting health policies and programs and action to reduce socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in NCDs throughout the country.

O artigo avalia mudanças na prevalência e distribuição de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis (DCNTs) e fatores de risco associados entre adultos brasileiros nas edições de 2013 e 2019 da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde (PNS), com base na hipótese de que a piora das condições socioeconômicas durante o período tenha levado a um aumento das DCNTs entre as populações mais vulneráveis. Estimamos razões de prevalência ajustadas por categoria de escolaridade e três medidas de desigualdade - índice de desigualdade absoluta (SII), índice relativo de desigualdade (RII) e fração atribuível à população (PAF) - para obesidade, hipertensão, artrite, asma, câncer, depressão, diabetes, doenças cardíacas, qualquer condição crônica e multimorbidade, por ano da pesquisa. Para as 27 Unidades da Federação, estimamos também as taxas de prevalência de diabetes e de multimorbidade por ano e cotejamos os RII com as taxas de prevalência por ano. Os resultados mostram que todas as DCNTs aumentaram ao longo do período de observação, desde um aumento de 8% na prevalência ajustada de artrite a um aumento de 24% na prevalência ajustada de obesidade. As medidas de desigualdade revelam que a maioria das DCNTs mostrou inequidades significativas em relação à escolaridade, tanto em 2013 quanto em 2019. Entretanto, em média, as inequidades com base na escolaridade não mudaram entre os dois períodos. Devido à deterioração das condições socioeconômicas para a maioria dos brasileiros, à erosão das proteções sociais e à continuação das crises econômica, política e sanitária enfrentadas pela nação, há necessidade urgente de um debate sobre as melhores políticas e programas de saúde para promover a equidade e reduzir desigualdades socieconômicas e geográficas das DCNTs em todo o país

Este trabajo evalúa los cambios en la prevalencia y distribución de las enfermedades no transmisibles (ENT) y factores de riesgo relacionados entre adultos brasileños en las Encuestas Nacionales de Salud (PNS) de 2013 y 2019 , basadas en la hipótesis de que las condiciones económicas en deterioro durante este período conducirían a ENTs entre los grupos de población menos favorecidos. Estimamos las ratios de prevalencia ajustados por categoría de educación y tres medidas de desigualdad -la curva del índice de desigualdad (SII), el índice relativo de desigualdad (RII), y la fracción atribuible de población (PAF)- para obesidad, hipertensión, artritis, asma, cáncer, depresión, diabetes, enfermedad cardiovascular, padeciendo alguna condición crónica, y multimorbilidad por año de encuesta. También estimamos 27 estados de RII y tasas de prevalencia para la diabetes y multimorbilidad por año, y se plantearon los RII frente a la prevalencia por año. Los resultados muestran que todas las ENTs se incrementaron durante el período observado, yendo desde un 8% de incremento en la prevalencia ajustada por artritis hasta un 24% de incremento en la prevalencia ajustada por obesidad. Las medidas de desigualdad muestran que la mayoría de las condiciones expuestas presentan inequidades educacionales significativas, tanto en 2013, como en 2019. No obstante, como promedio, las inequidades relacionadas con la educación no cambiaban significativamente durante los dos períodos. Debido al deterioro de las condiciones socioeconómicas de la mayoría de los brasileños, la erosión de la protección social, y las continuas crisis económicas, políticas, y de salud, que enfrenta la nación, existe una urgente necesidad de debatir sobre el mejor camino para adoptar medidas que promuevan la equidad en las políticas de salud y sus programas, así como acciones para conseguir reducciones en las desigualdades socioeconómicas y geográficas en las ENTs en todo el país.