Abstract Body: Background: The American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) metrics offer a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular well-being. However, it is unknown how these metrics differ among Black adults of African heritage recruited for a lifestyle intervention to improve cardiovascular health.

Objective: To explore differences in LE8 metrics across different African heritage groups in the GoFresh Trial.

Methods: We used screening data from the GoFresh Trial, two randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating pattern on blood pressure after 12 weeks in adults living in Boston with and without treated hypertension. We examined cardiovascular health across African Heritage groups as assessed by the LE8 metrics. The LE8 metrics include the following components: diet quality, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep duration, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure. The main predictor was African heritage group (African, Caribbean, and African American). We used linear regression to examine differences in cardiovascular health by African Heritage Group, adjusting for age, sex.

Results: We examined data from 427 Black persons, 67% were female and the mean age (±SD) was 52 (±4) years. We observed variations in cardiovascular health metrics across African heritage groups. Persons identifying as African American generally showed lower scores for the LE8 metrics. Blood pressure and BMI scores were significantly lower for persons identifying as African American compared to those of African and Caribbean heritage. Caribbean participants exhibited the best sleep scores (Table).

Conclusion: Significant differences in Life’s Essential 8 metrics were observed among Black adults of various African heritage backgrounds in the GoFresh Trial. The observed differences between the African heritage groups, underscore the importance of tailored interventions. These findings can guide the development of more effective, culturally sensitive strategies to improve cardiovascular health in these diverse populations, taking into account heritage.