Abstract
Abstract only Background: It is unknown how cardiovascular health (CVH) relates to severe Covid-19 illness in adults without clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that more optimal Life’s Essential 8 (LE8)-quantified CVH is associated with lower risk of severe Covid-19 among US adults without clinical CVD. Methods: C4R is ascertaining Covid-19 events in 14 NIH cohorts via questionnaires, serosurvey, and medical record adjudication. We included cohorts with pre-pandemic LE8 measures of body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), lipids, diet, glucose, physical activity, smoking, and sleep in participants without clinical CVD. Covid-19 was defined as severe (hospitalization, death) or non-severe (all other events). Fine-Gray sub-distribution hazard models compared incident Covid-19 by LE8 quartiles, with non-severe and severe Covid-19 as competing risks. Models were censored at first event, stratified by cohort, and adjusted for sociodemographics and vaccinations at time of Covid-19. Results: Among 21,300 participants in 7 cohorts (mean [SD] age 67 years [14], 61% female, 2% American Indian, 4% Asian, 16% Black, 33% White, 43% Hispanic), mean (SD) LE8 was 65 (14). In 3/2020-9/2022, there were 3,034 non-severe and 488 severe Covid-19 cases. The best CVH quartile (Q) 4 had more non-severe and fewer severe Covid-19 events. The Q4 vs. Q1 aHR was 1.08 (95% CI 0.98, 1.20) for non-severe Covid-19 and 0.59 (0.45, 0.77) for severe Covid-19. Examining LE8 components separately, better status on 5 LE8 components (BMI, BP, glucose, physical activity, smoking) was associated with significantly lower risk of severe Covid-19, whereas 3 were not associated (cholesterol, diet, sleep; data not shown). Conclusions: Better LE8-quantified CVH was associated with 41% lower risk of severe Covid-19 events in adults without clinical CVD. Further research is needed to elucidate mechanisms of Covid-19 resilience and the role of CVH-directed interventions to reduce risks of severe Covid-19.