Relationship between cardiovascular health score and year-to-year blood pressure variability in China: a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: On the basis of cardiovascular health factors and behaviours, the American Heart Association proposed the Cardiovascular Health Score (CHS). It has been widely used to estimate the cardiovascular health status of individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CHS and year-to-year blood pressure variability (BPV). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTINGS: We stratified participants into two groups by gender: first group, female group; second group, male group. The relationship between CHS and year-to-year blood pressure variability were analysed. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 41 613 individuals met the inclusion criteria (no history of stroke, transient ischaemic attack, myocardial infarction, malignant tumour or atrial fibrillation) and had complete blood pressure data. RESULTS: The coefficient of the variation of systolic blood pressure (SCV) was 8.33% in the total population and 8.68% and 8.22% in female and male groups, respectively (p<0.05). Multivariable linear regression analysis revealed that higher CHS was inversely associated with increasing year-to-year BPV, which persisted after adjusting for baseline systolic blood pressure and other risk factors. Each SD increase in CHS could lead to a 0.016SD decrease in SCV (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, CHS was inversely related to year-to-year BPV, which suggested that a healthy lifestyle may contribute to better blood pressure management.