Body Constitution and Unhealthy Lifestyles in a Primary Care Population at High Cardiovascular Risk: New Insights for Health Management

BACKGROUND: Adherence to lifestyle recommendations remains insufficient in cardiovascular (CV) health management globally. Body constitution, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, is primarily influenced by an individual’s internal metabolism and susceptibility to external pathogenic factors. Nevertheless, less is known about whether body constitutions may play a role in the presence of unhealthy lifestyles. We aimed to explore the associations between body constitutions and unhealthy lifestyles among Chinese individuals at high CV risk. METHODS: Computerised data were retrieved from a primary care population-based health record for all 1739 eligible individuals at high CV risk who attended routine check-up in an urbanised, medium-size district in Guangzhou, China. Unhealthy lifestyles were determined in accordance with guideline recommendations. The body constitution was assessed on the basis of physical signs, personality, body symptoms, and the susceptibility to environmental changes, following nationally standard procedure. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed using marginal standardisation method. RESULTS: The participants ranged in age from 20 to 96 years, with a mean age of 69.55 years. There were slightly more females than males (52.3% vs 47.7%). Current smoking, regular drinking, and physical inactivity were most common. Participants with a body constitution of phlegm-and-dampness type (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.999, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.003–3.984; p=0.049) tended to be current smokers, and those assessed with special diathesis type (aOR=2.166, 95% CI=1.029–4.559; p=0.042) had a higher likelihood of being regular drinkers. Having a body constitution type of blood stasis (aOR=1.375, 95% CI=1.029–1.838; p=0.031) or qi deficient (aOR=1.711, 95% CI=1.080–2.709; p=0.022) was associated with physical inactivity. CONCLUSION: Our findings add to current evidence suggesting that an individual’s body constitution is closely related to the presence of unhealthy lifestyles. This offers new insights for health management through body constitution-based strategies to target those at high CV risk who need tailor-made attention in lifestyle modifications during routine primary care.