Cardiovascular disease has become the leading cause of death in China.
Objectives
The goal of this study was to evaluate the current status of cardiovascular health in Chinese adults.
Methods
Cardiovascular health data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 96,121 Chinese adults age ≥20 years in 2010. Ideal cardiovascular health was defined according to the American Heart Association’s 2020 Strategic Impact Goals as follows: the simultaneous presence of 4 favorable health behaviors (ideal smoking status, ideal body mass index, physical activity at goal, and healthy dietary habits) and 4 favorable health factors (ideal smoking status, untreated total cholesterol <200 mg/dl, untreated blood pressure <120/<80 mm Hg, and untreated fasting plasma glucose <100 mg/dl) in the absence of a history of cardiovascular disease.
Results
The estimated percentage of ideal cardiovascular health was 0.2% in the general adult population in China (0.1% in men and 0.4% in women). An estimated 0.7% (0.4% in men and 1.0% in women) of Chinese adults had all 4 ideal health behaviors, and 13.5% (5.0% in men and 22.3% in women) had all 4 ideal health factors. Men most frequently had 3 to 4 ideal components, and women most commonly had 4 to 5 ideal components of the 7 cardiovascular health metrics. Ideal diet (1.6%) was the least common among all cardiovascular health metrics. Female sex and younger age were the 2 most common protective factors for cardiovascular health in Chinese adults.
Conclusions
The percentage of ideal cardiovascular health in Chinese adults is extremely low. Both population-wide and high-risk strategies should be implemented with great effort to promote cardiovascular health in China.
Key Words
cardiovascular disease
China
epidemiology
health status
Abbreviations and Acronyms
AHA
American Heart Association
BMI
body mass index
CDC
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
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This work was supported by grants 2013BAI09B13 from the China National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, 2015CB553600 from 973 Program, 2012AA02A509 from the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) and 81321001, 81390350, 81222008, and 81130016 from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Y. Xu was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under award number D43TW009107. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose. Drs. Bi, Jiang, He, and Y. Xu contributed equally to this work, and Drs. W. Wang, L. Wang, and G. Ning jointly directed this work.
