Person-centered and measured life’s simple 7 cardiovascular health concordance and association with incident cardiovascular disease

Person-centered cardiovascular health (CVH) may facilitate cardiovascular disease primordial prevention in low resources settings. The study aims to assess the validity of person-centered CVH compared to gold standard measured CVH by examining the concordance between person-centered vs. measured CVH together with their respective association with incident cardiovascular disease events (CVD). Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) CVH metrics, including non-smoking, Body Mass Index, diet, physical activity, blood glycemia, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol were collected from 19,473 adults participating in the e-cohort NutriNet-Santé study from 2011 to 2014 and were followed until September 2020. Clinical examinations and blood analyses defined the measured biological metrics, while diagnoses, medication, or treatment for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia defined person-centered biological metrics. Declared behavioral metrics were common for both measured and person-centered CVH. The study included 18,714 CVD-free participants (mean age 51 years, 73% women), among whom 16.52% and 38.75% had 5–7 ideal LS7 metrics according to measured and person-centered CVH, respectively. Weighted concordance of person-centered and measured CVH was 0.87 [0.86; 0.88]. Over median follow-up of 8.05 years, 749 CVD events occurred. There was a 7% (HR 0.93 [0.88; 0.99]) and 13% (HR 0.87 [0.83; 0.92]) risk reduction of CVD risk by additional measured and person-centered ideal metrics, respectively. In conclusion, person-centered CVH may represent a reliable alternative to measured CVH.