Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Introduction
Although the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score has been used to assess cardiovascular health in various populations, there has been a lack of focus on minoritized women and the unique intersectional identities that may influence risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Objectives
This study aims to assess differences in LE8 scores by race and ethnicity among women ages 18 and older.
Methods
We analyzed cross-sectional data of women aged 18 years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2020. LE8 composite scores were computed from diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep, body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose, lipids; scored between 0-100 points. The outcome, composite LE8 score, was categorized into quartiles very low (0-2.5), low (2.5-5), moderate (5-7.5) and high (7.5-10). Survey-weighted multinomial regression models were used to derive the relative risk ratio to assess the association between race and ethnicity categories and LE8 quartiles, adjusting for age, income, education, marital status, insurance, employment, and pregnancy history.
Results
We included a sample of 9,848 women (corresponding to a weighed sample of 97,759,359 women), mean age 49(±17) years; 72% White, 13% Hispanic, 11% Black, and 3% Asian. Compared to Non-Hispanic White women, Hispanic women had higher relative risk ratios of being in very low (RRR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.55, 4.12), low (RRR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.30, 3.49), moderate (RRR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.20, 3.43) LE8 scores quartiles. Similarly, Non-Hispanic Black women had higher relative risk ratios of being in the very low (RRR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.81, 5.11), low (RRR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.28, 3.95) LE8 score quartiles. Non-Hispanic Asian women had higher relative risk ratios of being in the low (RRR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.32) LE8 score quartiles, compared to Non-Hispanic White women (Figure).
Conclusion
Black and Hispanic women are exposed to more cardiovascular health risk factors based on LE8 metrics. There is a need for increased LE8-focused interventions among Black and Hispanic women to bridge the significant cardiovascular health disparities.