Exploring the associations between cardiovascular health measured with the CANHEART model and early cognitive impairment in a middle-aged population in Korea

OBJECTIVES: Both cardiovascular health (CVH) and inflammation are associated with cognition, and inflammation is also associated with CVH. However, limited information has been reported on these factors in the Korean population. The objective of our study was to investigate the influence of inflammation on the association between CVH and cognition using a cross-sectional design. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center baseline study. Participants who completed fasting serum analysis, questionnaires, and cognitive function tests were included in the analysis, whereas those with a history of autoimmune disease were excluded. The CVH in Ambulatory Care Research Team health index metrics, including smoking, physical activity, healthy diet, obesity, history of hypertension, and diabetes, were used to assess CVH. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Estimation for Dementia Screening. Inflammatory status was assessed based on a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) test. RESULTS: Among 2,622 total participants (mean age, 57.2 years; 1,792 women), 13%, 58%, and 29% had poor, intermediate, and ideal CVH, respectively. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that CVH was significantly associated with cognitive function only in women. A stratified analysis showed that cognitive impairment due to CVH was not associated with hs-CRP levels. When the same analyses were conducted for each CVH component, the only component affecting the association was hypertension history in men. CONCLUSIONS: CVH is not significantly associated with cognitive decline in the middle-aged Korean population. Inflammation did not play a significant modifying role in this relationship.